PHOENIX (AP) — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has condemned the removal of Confederate statues, saying he had a “deep-seated reaction to” the destruction of monuments honoring Civil War Confederate leaders.
Robert E. Lee, the top Confederate general, had “extraordinary leadership qualities” that deserve to be celebrated, Kennedy said Friday in an interview for the Timcast IRL, which is hosted by conservative podcaster Tim Pool.
“There were heroes in the Confederacy who had no slaves,” Kennedy said in response to a question about the monuments. “And you know, I just have a visceral reaction to this devastating history. I do not like it. I think we should celebrate who we are. And that, you know, we should celebrate the good qualities of everyone.
Celebrating only people who were “completely virtuous” would mean erasing all of history, Kennedy said.
The comment marks yet another controversial statement from the former Democrat, who is facing an uphill battle to become the first person since George Washington to be elected president without ties to a political party.
Kennedy, who is trying to bring together a coalition of Americans dissatisfied with both major parties, has promoted himself as a fierce free speech advocate willing to take controversial positions. Allies of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees respectively, view Kennedy with trepidation and worry that Kennedy will gain enough support to tip the election.
Activists have been pushing for years to remove monuments and rename buildings that honor the Confederacy’s leaders, calling them symbols of racism.
“We have to be advanced enough to live with, you know, our ancestors who didn’t agree with us on everything and who did things that are now considered immoral or wrong because, you know, maybe they had different qualities” , Kennedy said.
