Indiana Democratic Rep. Andre Carson believes the removal of statues should not stop at Confederate leaders but should include America’s founders, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
“Sure, slave owners, womanizers — people who view women as second-class citizens. People who didn’t see women as being worthy enough of voting. They should be taken down,” Carson told the Washington Examiner.
Protesters initially targeted monuments to Confederate military leaders, frequently yanking them down with no consequences from local law enforcement.
However, other monuments, including former U.S. presidents such as Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as abolitionists, have been under attack since then.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested the removal of 11 Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol over two weeks ago, but ultimately removed only four House speaker portraits of members who served in the Confederacy.
President Trump issued an executive order to authorize federal officers to arrest people who have torn down monuments in recent weeks under a 2003 federal law. Trump issued this order after protesters attempted to pull down a statue of Jackson in Lafayette Park earlier this week.
