House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he is fine with legislation that would remove the Confederate statues that stand in the U.S. Capitol.
During a speech on the House floor, McCarthy addressed his support for a resolution that would remove Confederate statues from the Capitol, saying all the statues are of Democrats and that the party should consider changing its name.
“The bill we’re voting on today we’ve voted on before. I supported it [then] and I support it now. But let me state a simple fact: All of the statues being removed by this bill are statues of Democrats,” McCarthy said.
“What’s interesting is the statues that need to be removed were sent to the Capitol by states [with Democrat-run legislatures] sent to a House that had a [Democrat majority who was] accepting of these statues. I think the bill should go further. Maybe it’s time the Democrats changed the name of their party,” he continued.
“[Democrats are] desperate to pretend their party has progressed from their days of supporting slavery, pushing Jim Crow laws and supporting the KKK. But let’s be honest … if those fundamentals rest somewhere, we cannot let them,” McCarthy added.
WATCH:
GOP Leader McCarthy during debate on a bill to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol:
“All of the statues being removed by this bill are statues of Democrats… Maybe it’s time the Democrats change the name of their party.” pic.twitter.com/0RA6ubLuYT
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 29, 2021
A statue of Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War, is on display in the Crypt of the U.S. Capitol June 18, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
In June 2020, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced she ordered four paintings of Speakers who served in the Confederacy to be removed from the U.S. Capitol. (RELATED: Pelosi Says She Has Demanded Confederate Speaker Paintings Be Removed From Capitol)
There are still a number of statues of men with a connection to the Confederacy on display in the Capitol. North Carolina sent a statue of Zebulon Vance to be displayed, Florida sent a statue of Edmund Kirby Smith, the last Confederate general to surrender, Alabama sent a statue of Confederate cavalryman Joseph Wheeler, South Carolina sent a statue of Wade Hampton and Georgia sent a statue of Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens. In 1931, Mississippi chose both Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate colonel James Z. George, according to The Washington Post. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Kevin McCarthy To Introduce New Legislation To Protect America’s Statues)
In 2017 Pelosi called for the monuments to be removed and asked then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan for his support. The monuments are still standing in the Capitol.
