President Trump said the push to remove Confederate monuments is taking “beauty” out of cities around the country.
Trump tweeted Thursday morning that it is “sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments.”
Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
...can't change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish! Also...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
...the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
City officials around the country have worked to remove several Confederate monuments after a counter protester, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, was killed Saturday during a white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. The march began as a protest over the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in the city.
Trump's tweet comes hours after Franklin officials removed a Confederate plaque overnight. The Robert E. Lee plaque was removed sometime between midnight and 3 a.m. Thursday.
MORE: Confederate plaque in Franklin removed overnight
City of Franklin officials said Wednesday that the monument is in a public right of way for Dixie Highway, and therefore is a hazard that must be removed. Earlier that day, Franklin Township officials had said they would not remove the monument, but they later learned that the monument is actually in Franklin, the city, so it would not be theirs to remove.
So far, Confederate memorials have been removed in Baltimoreand Gainesville, Florida. Four people were arrested in Durham, North Carolina after a Confederate Soldiers Monument was pulled down Monday.
Lexington Mayor Jim Gray said on Twitter Saturday he is “taking action to relocate Confederate statues.”
