Sen. Tom Cotton compared Black Lives Matter activists and supporters of critical race theory training to 19th-century defenders of slavery.
“If we taught these politically correct liberals a little more history, maybe they would realize that BLM Marxists and critical race theorists actually sound just like John C. Calhoun, the great 19th-century defender of slavery, because they always reduce people to the color of their skin, nothing but their race,” Cotton said during an appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight, which he tweeted out on Wednesday. “They repudiate the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the statesmanship of Abraham Lincoln. Which is one reason why … this summer, they started tearing down statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, but pretty quickly, they went on to statues of Washington and Andrew Jackson and U.S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln.”
“And when you’re tearing down statues of Lincoln and U.S. Grant, it’s not about the Confederacy or the Civil War, it’s because you hate America,” Cotton continued.
BLM Marxists and Critical Race Theorists sound just like supporters of John C. Calhoun, the notorious 19th century defender of slavery–both reduce people to the color of their skin.
In doing so, both repudiate the principles of the Declaration of Independence. pic.twitter.com/RAbBtuJx5d
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) November 12, 2020
Cotton’s tweet comes as some have speculated that a Joe Biden administration would scrap President Trump’s executive order that banned federal agencies and contractors from offering “diversity training” that Trump called “divisive” and “un-American.”
“I think it’s highly probable that this executive order will be rescinded in fairly short order,” said Franklin Turner, a partner with law firm McCarter & English, who represents multinational contractors.
Critics of the training have likened it to critical race theory, which views American law and institutions as inherently racist while operating under a framework of white supremacy. According to CRT proponents, racism is a dominant component of American society and denies minorities rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
The decision to end the training came after a summer of flared racial tensions after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis while he was in police custody.
Protests broke out across the country in the wake of Floyd’s death, followed by a movement to tear down statues many considered symbols of racist figures in American history. While controversial figures from the Confederacy, such as Robert E. Lee, were targeted for removal, protesters also went after Union heroes, such as former Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, the latter of whom also served as a general in the Union Army.
