{"id":1034226,"date":"2024-05-29T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1034226"},"modified":"2024-05-31T20:34:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T20:34:27","slug":"heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s What People Are Saying About RFK Jr.\u2019s \u201cVisceral Reaction\u201d to the Removal of Confederate Monuments\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a recent interview, RFK Jr. described having a \u201cvisceral reaction\u201d to the removal of Confederate statues and monuments. He argued that some \u201cheroes in the Confederacy\u201d may have had \u201cother qualities\u201d that should be revered. RFK Jr. said that Confederate general and slave owner Robert E. Lee\u2019s \u201cextraordinary qualities of leadership\u201d should be recognized. He even went as far as to say we should \u201ccelebrate\u201d this dark side of American history. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Headlines <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New York Times<\/strong><\/a>: R.F.K. Jr. Denounces the Removal of Confederate Statues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Washington Post<\/strong><\/a>: RFK Jr. had a \u2018visceral\u2019 reaction to tear-downs of Confederate statues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press<\/strong><\/a>: Kennedy condemns the removal of Confederate monuments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBS News<\/strong><\/a>: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he opposed removal of Confederate monuments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC News<\/strong><\/a>: RFK Jr. says he opposes removing Confederate statues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fox News<\/strong><\/a>: RFK Jr. slams Democrats for toppling Confederate statues: ‘Destroying history’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN<\/strong><\/a>: RFK Jr. says he had \u2018visceral reaction against\u2019 removal of Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Excerpts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New York Times<\/strong><\/a>: R.F.K. Jr. Denounces the Removal of Confederate Statues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Excerpt: <\/em><\/strong>\u201cIn a podcast interview that aired live on Friday from the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, Mr. Kennedy, an independent candidate for president, portrayed the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy as \u2018destroying history,\u2019 echoing similar comments made by former President Donald J. Trump in support of the monuments. […] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Trump equated their removal to \u2018changing history\u2019 when he defended some participants of a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, who had gathered to protect the statue of Lee that was later removed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Washington Post<\/strong><\/a>: RFK Jr. had a \u2018visceral\u2019 reaction to tear-downs of Confederate statues\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Excerpt: <\/em><\/strong>\u201cOn the podcast, Kennedy said he \u2018wouldn\u2019t have done that\u2019 and would have allowed the Confederate monuments to stay.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press<\/strong><\/a>: Kennedy condemns the removal of Confederate monuments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Excerpt: <\/em><\/strong>\u201c\u2018We need to be able to be sophisticated enough to live with, you know, our ancestors who didn\u2019t agree with us on everything and who did things that are now regarded as immoral or wrong, because they, you know, maybe they had other qualities,\u2019 Kennedy said.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC News<\/strong><\/a>: RFK Jr. says he opposes removing Confederate statues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Excerpt: <\/em><\/strong>\u201cSpeaking Friday on the \u2018Timcast IRL\u2019 podcast, Kennedy described a \u2018visceral reaction to this destroying history.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I don\u2019t like it,\u2019  he told conservative podcaster Tim Pool. \u2018I think we should celebrate who we are. And that, you know, we should celebrate the good qualities of everybody.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kennedy also pointed to \u2018heroes in the Confederacy who didn\u2019t have slaves,\u2019 but he later praised Robert E. Lee, a slave owner, suggesting Lee, the top Confederate general, demonstrated \u2018extraordinary qualities of leadership\u2019  that warranted recognition.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fox News<\/strong><\/a>: RFK Jr. slams Democrats for toppling Confederate statues: ‘Destroying history’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Excerpt: <\/em><\/strong>\u201c\u2018I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a good, healthy thing for any culture to erase its history,\u2019  Kennedy said. \u2018I have a visceral reaction against, against the attacks on those statues.\u2019 […]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I just have a visceral reaction against destroying history. I don\u2019t like it. I think we should celebrate who we are,\u2019 Kennedy said. \u2018We should celebrate the good qualities of everybody\u2026If we want to find people who are completely virtuous on every issue throughout history, we would erase all of history.\u2019\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a recent interview, RFK Jr. described having a \u201cvisceral reaction\u201d to the removal of Confederate statues and monuments. He argued that some \u201cheroes in the Confederacy\u201d may have had \u201cother qualities\u201d that should be revered. RFK Jr. said that Confederate general and slave owner Robert E. Lee\u2019s \u201cextraordinary qualities of leadership\u201d should be recognized. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1034226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHere\u2019s What People Are Saying About RFK Jr.\u2019s \u201cVisceral Reaction\u201d to the Removal of Confederate Monuments\u00a0 - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-29T17:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-31T20:34:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/\",\"name\":\"Here\u2019s What People Are Saying About RFK Jr.\u2019s \u201cVisceral Reaction\u201d to the Removal of Confederate Monuments\u00a0 - Democrats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-29T17:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-31T20:34:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c31239f43161314a03057960c56c0564\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Here\u2019s What People Are Saying About RFK Jr.\u2019s \u201cVisceral Reaction\u201d to the Removal of Confederate Monuments\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\",\"name\":\"Democrats\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c31239f43161314a03057960c56c0564\",\"name\":\"Claire DePree\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/262c0b3f1914330fe3241c699fd21798ee92a8504fc6296028e8fa17334d1151?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/262c0b3f1914330fe3241c699fd21798ee92a8504fc6296028e8fa17334d1151?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Claire DePree\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/depreec\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Here\u2019s What People Are Saying About RFK Jr.\u2019s \u201cVisceral Reaction\u201d to the Removal of Confederate Monuments\u00a0 - Democrats","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_site_name":"Democrats","article_published_time":"2024-05-29T17:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-31T20:34:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Claire DePree","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Claire DePree","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/","name":"Here\u2019s What People Are Saying About RFK Jr.\u2019s \u201cVisceral Reaction\u201d to the Removal of Confederate Monuments\u00a0 - Democrats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png","datePublished":"2024-05-29T17:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-31T20:34:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c31239f43161314a03057960c56c0564"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/War-Room-Master-Image.png","width":1500,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/heres-what-people-are-saying-about-rfk-jr-s-visceral-reaction-to-the-removal-of-confederate-monuments\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Here\u2019s What People Are Saying About RFK Jr.\u2019s \u201cVisceral Reaction\u201d to the Removal of Confederate Monuments\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/","name":"Democrats","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c31239f43161314a03057960c56c0564","name":"Claire DePree","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/262c0b3f1914330fe3241c699fd21798ee92a8504fc6296028e8fa17334d1151?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/262c0b3f1914330fe3241c699fd21798ee92a8504fc6296028e8fa17334d1151?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Claire DePree"},"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/depreec\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1034227,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034226\/revisions\/1034227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}