Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer warned that “cancel culture” could begin targeting Bible characters next after the city of Chicago announced a list of statues that included Abraham Lincoln and the Founding Fathers that were being considered for removal in the city.
“If they start canceling American presidents, they’ll come after Bible characters next,” Hemmer said. “Mark my words, right?”
Hemmer was responding to reporter Carley Shimkus and co-anchor Dana Perino, who detailed Chicago’s controversial plan to remove some statues and monuments in the city.
“Forty-one Chicago monuments are under review,” Shimkus said. “Five are of Abraham Lincoln in Illinois — the land of Lincoln. His statue might be removed from the city.”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveiled the list of statues being considered for removal earlier this week, saying the city’s goal was to confront the “hard truths of Chicago’s racial history.”
“Given the past year and in particular the past summer that made clear history isn’t past, it is essential that residents are a part of this conversation. This project is about more than a single statue or mural. It’s about channeling our city’s dynamic civic energy to permanently memorialize our shared values, history, and heritage as Chicagoans in an open and democratic way,” Lightfoot said in a press release.
Many of the statues had been vandalized over the summer of racial justice protests and riots, something Shimkus said was “violent,” “wrong,” and “illegal,” but she said that it was “equally troubling” to have Chicago to look at “at the history of these men and what they represent to our country, and still decide to take these statues down.”
“Are we in a transition period in our country right now where our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren might not think of these people the way we do?” Shimkus asked. “They might not be taught in the same way we know them now. I say more statues, not less, not fewer. More opinions, more ideas, not less.”
Shimkus was especially troubled by the addition of Abraham Lincoln to the list, a former president from the state of Illinois that has traditionally enjoyed legendary status in the city.
“Way, way back in the day when I was first working in local news, I was at a CBS affiliate in Springfield, Illinois, and Lincoln was everything,” he said. “A part of every aspect of the city and there was even a sandwich named after Abraham Lincoln. I don’t think they’ll take the sandwich name away.”
