In an incredible feat of willfully tone-deaf racism, President Donald Trump decided this Wednesday afternoon that it was at the top of his priorities list to rush to Twitter and implicitly defend the legacies of Confederate generals. No joke: early Wednesday afternoon, Trump complained on Twitter about a push to rename some or all of the 10 U.S. military bases that are named after Generals who served on the side of the Confederacy during the Civil War. There’s been a push throughout recent months and years to rename monuments to Confederate leaders, and at just about every step of the way, Trump has opposed that push with the stated excuse of a glib allegiance to American “greatness” — or something.
There are 10 U.S. Army bases named for Confederate generals, including Fort Bragg and Fort Hood. https://t.co/dadF2dwinL
— TriCityHerald (@TriCityHerald) June 10, 2020
In this case, he tweeted:
‘It has been suggested that we should rename as many as 10 of our Legendary Military Bases, such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Benning in Georgia, etc. These Monumental and very Powerful Bases have become part of a Great American Heritage, and a history of Winning, Victory, and Freedom. The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations. Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!’
It is incredible that Trump’s approach to the world in general and U.S. politics in particular is so ignorantly simplistic that “Winning, Victory, and Freedom” are his priorities. What’s his plan to deal with diverse domestic and foreign policy challenges? His plan seems to hinge upon calling himself great and hoping for the best. In practice, that egomania means that, in cases like the situation of the 10 military bases named after Confederate generals, he’s perfectly fine with propagating increasingly violent racism.
The president digging into "heritage" as he did in 2017 after Charlottesville, telling his advisers it was a good fight for him. https://t.co/kawSjNxrFp
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 10, 2020
It’s racism through and through.
Gens. Bragg, Benning and Hood were traitors to the Union, who fought on the side of the Confederacy, which waged war to continue slavery. https://t.co/QqACMoAgNC
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) June 10, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response below:
