Donald Trump has equated the Black Lives Matter movement with displays of the Confederate flag, saying: “I am not offended by Black Lives Matter, that is freedom of expression.” You know everything about canceling culture: we can’t cancel our entire history. We cannot forget that the north and the south fought. “
Repeating his threat of a veto to rename the US military bases named by Confederate generals, he added: “When people proudly hold their Confederate flags, they are not talking about racism. They love their flag, it represents the south. “
Trump made the potentially inflammatory comments in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, broadcast a day after a Black Lives Matter mural on the street in front of the Trump Tower in New York City was damaged with paint for the third time in less One week.
When asked about movements to rename US bases under the National Defense Authorization Act that are supported by senior military leaders, Trump said: “I don’t care what they say the military. I’m supposed to make the decision. Fort Bragg is a big deal … Go to the community, say, “How about the idea of renaming Fort Bragg,” and then what are we going to call it? Shall we call it that by the Rev. Al Sharpton?
Sharpton is a New York-based civil rights leader who was among the national figures who paid tribute this weekend to John Lewis, the civil rights defender and Democratic congressman who died Friday, aged 80. It took 14 hours for Trump to post a short condolence tweet.
Fort Bragg in North Carolina is named after Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general during the Civil War, who was fought from 1861 to 1865. Numerous other bases are named for leaders on the losing side who fought to maintain slavery.
Calls to rename the bases and tear down statues and monuments to Confederate leaders have come amid protests demanding justice and reform after the police killings of George Floyd and other blacks. Many statues and monuments have been removed.
This week, the Defense Department followed in Nascar’s footsteps by effectively banning the display of the Confederate flag on its properties. Trying to avoid angering Trump, who has made supporting confederate symbols a central element of his reelection campaign, Defense Secretary Mark Esper simply dropped the flag from a list of flags that can be displayed on the bases.
The words “Black Lives Matter” have been painted on prominent streets in Washington on the road leading to the White House. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio helped paint the mural on Fifth Avenue, opposite Trump’s Manhattan residence. Trump said in a tweet that the project would denigrate “this luxurious avenue.”
Similar to Confederate and other monuments that were painted with paint and graffiti, the Trump Tower mural has been repeatedly attacked. In the latest incident, two women were arrested around 3 p.m. Saturday after police said they poured black paint on a one-block mural.
The viewer’s video showed officers surrounding a woman as she rubbed paint over bright yellow letters, yelling “They don’t care about black lives” and “Reimbursing the police.”
An officer slipped on the paint and fell, sustaining head and arm injuries, police said. He was in stable condition at the hospital. A police spokesperson said the women’s names and information on possible charges were not immediately available.
The vandalism occurred less than 24 hours after three people were caught on surveillance video smearing blue paint on the mural around 4 p.m. Friday, while a woman covered it with flyers that referenced the recent shooting death of a one-year-old boy in Brooklyn, police said.
Officers found the trio a short time later with blue paint on their hands and clothing. One was wearing an “All Lives Matter” shirt and other clothing that indicated their support for Trump. They were arrested, charged with criminal mischief and released, with an order to appear in court at a later date.
Police continue to search for a man in black shorts and a dark blue T-shirt who was seen splashing red paint on the Black Lives Matter mural around noon last Monday.
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