President Trump poked fun at those calling for military bases named after Confederate leaders to be renamed.
Trump said on Sunday that he would veto any legislation that requires military bases such as Fort Bragg to be renamed because he does not want the name changes to frustrate people who live in the communities near the bases. He told Fox News Sunday that he doesn’t know what each base would be renamed to and joked that he would not allow a base to be named after Rev. Al Sharpton.
“Go to that community where Fort Bragg is, in a great state, I love that state, go to the community, say, ‘How do you like the idea of renaming Fort Bragg,’ and then what are we going to name it? We’re going to name it after the Rev. Al Sharpton? What are you gonna name it, Chris, tell me what you’re gonna name it?” Trump asked.
“So, there’s a whole thing here. We won two world wars, two world wars, beautiful world wars that were vicious and horrible, and we won them out of Fort Bragg, we won out of all of these forts that now they want to throw those names away. And, no, I’m against that, and you know what, most other people are,” he said.
The military has already started to remove ties to the Confederacy by banning the flying of Confederate flags at military installations. Trump said he does not support bans on the Confederate flag.
“When people proudly have their Confederate flags, they’re not talking about racism. They love their flag, it represents the South, they like the South. People right now like the South. I say it’s freedom of, of, of many things, but it’s freedom of speech,” Trump said.
Trump and Sharpton have often criticized each other. Sharpton, an MSNBC host, has become a prominent figure in discussions about race. He has a divisive past because of his rise to fame amid the 1987 Tawana Brawley case, during which he alleged that a group of white men kidnapped and raped a black teenage girl. The reverend lost a defamation lawsuit following the case and was ordered to pay one of the men $65,000 in damages.
