Donald Trump has refused to bow to demands to rename military bases in the United States that are named after Confederate generals from the Civil War. The president has said it will never happen under his watch.
Reports say that military officials are willing to have the names of the bases changed in light of the discussion and readdressing of history that has emerged thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Many Confederacy symbols, which represent the slaveholding states of the south, continue to be prevalent in the country to this day with some landmarks, such as the statue of the president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis being removed by protestors in Richmond, Virginia.
In a series of tweets posted by Trump on Wednesday, Trump highlighted that military bases such as Fort Bragg, Fort Hood and Fort Benning were a part of American history and represented “Winning, Victory, and Freedom.”
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…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020 [1]
…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…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020 [2]
…Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 10, 2020 [3]
Although Trump isn’t wrong in saying that they are part of US history, his use of the words “winning, victory and freedom” is a little misguided when referring to the Confederates as they definitely didn’t win the Civil War.
People picked up on this are were more than happy to mock the president, who truly is an idiot:
My god. The president thinks the Confederate army is part of our "history of winning, victory, and freedom." Maybe this is from the same group of brain worms that told him about the airports of 1812. https://t.co/IctKfbQwV3 [4]
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) June 10, 2020 [5]
"history of Winning, Victory and Freedom" about Confederate generals https://t.co/Wd75OXroB2 [6]
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) June 10, 2020 [7]
These military bases of "Winning, Victory and Freedom" were named for Confederate generals who…lost. https://t.co/bndsZhyXeV [8]
— Greg Miller (@gregpmiller) June 10, 2020 [9]
"Winning, Victory, and Freedom?"
Those Confederate generals fought *against* the United States to defend slavery and they lost. https://t.co/150cIEqgkk [10]
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) June 10, 2020 [11]
"Winning, Victory, and Freedom" are not words I usually associate with the Confederacy, but what do I know? https://t.co/fkDeJnecyd [12]
— Mike "Wear a Mask" Rothschild (@rothschildmd) June 10, 2020 [13]
#winning [14]? Hardly. When @POTUS [15] is a moron. https://t.co/FodFfkGoGO [16] pic.twitter.com/RjLiIQZnHq [17]
— Angela 😷 #stayhome 🏡 (@AdavisWilliams) June 10, 2020 [18]
Somebody please ask Trump who won the Civil War https://t.co/dPIL53PuBq [19]
— William LeGate (@williamlegate) June 10, 2020 [20]
not to nitpick, but aren't bases named after Southern generals by definition recalling a history not of 'Winning' but losing? https://t.co/H9LhOBEcgC [21]
— Sebastian Smith (@SebastianAFP) June 10, 2020 [22]