Last Updated on June 3, 2020
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, who gained infamy in 2019 for yearbook photos next to his official photo that showed two men in Ku Klux Klan robes and blackface, is reportedly set to announce the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond on Thursday.
The announcement is planned to come in the wake of violent race rots and looting that has seen the desecration of multiple historical locations associated with the South. The removal and destruction of Confederate memorabilia is a long-time left-wing wishlist item that has only recently come to fruition in recent years after resistance from the Republican Party has swiftly evaporated.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to announce Thursday the imminent removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that sits on Richmond’s Monument Avenue, according to an administration official.”
The stonework will reportedly be stored away “while the administration makes a decision about its ultimate fate, with public input.”
The Daughters of the Confederacy Museum in Virginia was desecrated and burned by rioters over the past week.
Northam had previously offered support to protesters and praise to Black Lives Matter, as National File reported last week:
Parsing out pieces of a short statement released by his office, Northam told rioters nationwide and in the Commonwealth, “I acknowledge each of the voices crying out for justice and healing across the United States and in our Commonwealth…I know your pain is real.”
Perpetuating Black Lives Matter propaganda about race and police in America, Northam continued in his flurry of tweets to claim that “we have all seen too many people harassed, abused, and killed by law enforcement officers, in too many places, for too long – just for being black.
We have all seen too many people harassed, abused, and killed by law enforcement officers, in too many places, for too long—just for being black. I also know that others are exploiting this pain and are now causing violence.
— Governor Ralph Northam (@VAGovernor73) May 31, 2020
Northam made no condemnation of the Black Lives Matter and AntiFa-sponsored mobs traversing Virginia and the United States, but told Virginians that the National Guard has been activated to protect residents and businesses – “especially small and black-owned businesses,” giving credence to the calls of many involved in the rioting to attack and loot businesses specifically owned by whites and larger corporations
Northam’s decision is not indicative of partisanship, as Republican leaders such as Nikki Haley have also promoted the idea of erasing Southern history deemed politically incorrect in the current landscape.
Within moments of the news of Northam’s decision, the Trump War Room Twitter account tweeted out a message attacking Joe Biden for posthumously restoring Robert E. Lee’s U.S. citizenship.
Joe Biden voted to restore Confederate general Robert E. Lee's citizenship https://t.co/1ryAVIag28
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) June 3, 2020
Many Trump voters were befuddled by the campaign’s decision to attack Biden on the basis of being too conservative.
