鶹Ӱ

Skip to main content

RFK Jr. says he had 'visceral reaction against' removal of Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Share

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he had a “visceral reaction against” the removal of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was once the focal point of the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.

Kennedy said  with podcast host Tim Pool on Friday that he opposes “destroying history” when asked about the Charlottesville City Council’s decision in 2021 to remove the town’s statute of Lee and melt it down to create new public art. Kennedy, who went to law school at the University of Virginia, said he had a personal reaction to seeing the statue removed.

“I have a visceral reaction against the attacks on those statues,” Kennedy said. “There were heroes in the Confederacy who didn’t have slaves, and you know, I just have a visceral reaction against destroying history. I don’t like it.”

“I think we should celebrate who we are,” Kennedy added. “We should celebrate the good qualities of everybody.”

The 2017 decision to remove the statute of Lee from a park in Charlottesville sparked outrage, including from White nationalist sympathizers who gathered at the “Unite the Right” protest that August and violently clashed with counter-protesters. Heather Heyer, a counter-protester, was killed when a man drove his car into a crowd.

Kennedy said he doesn’t “think it’s a good, a healthy thing for any culture to erase its history,” and suggested historical figures like Lee should be celebrated for their positive qualities even if they also took actions that are now “regarded as immoral … or wrong.”

“We need to be able to be sophisticated enough to live with, you know, our ancestors who didn’t agree with us on everything, and who did things that are now, you know, regarded as immoral, you know, or wrong,” Kennedy said. “Maybe they had other qualities that we want to celebrate.”

“Clearly, Robert E. Lee had extraordinary qualities of leadership,” he added.

Kennedy also defended his past celebration of , a holiday celebrated on Columbus Day borne out of Native American advocacy to honour Indigenous peoples who inhabited the Americas. Pool, the podcast host, accused Kennedy of seeking to erase Christopher Columbus’ legacy by celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but Kennedy argued both holidays can be honoured alongside each other.

“I think it’s important for us to be part of a community where we can recognize all kinds of people. We can recognize Italian Americans to whom that is an important holiday, and at the same time, we can recognize the indigenous people who were, you know, made the ultimate sacrifice of one of the greatest genocides in the history,” Kennedy said.

At a rally in Philadelphia in October, during which he formally announced his switch from running in the Democratic primary to running as an independent, Kennedy said it’s “a hopeful sign” that the U.S. celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Prior to his remarks, Kennedy was introduced by Lewis GrassRope, a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.

“It’s a hopeful sign now for our country that we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” Kennedy said last October. “It shows that our country is now ready to explore and to tell each other the untold histories of those dispossessed people who have previously languished on the margins.”

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.

Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Montérégie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.

Local Spotlight

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.