CNN host Jake Tapper condemned President Trump for rejecting growing calls to rename military bases named after Confederate leaders.
Tapper discussed Trump’s rocky relationship with several military leaders in the country, including the recent criticism he received from former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, on State of the Union on Sunday.
“The president and his supporters have had plenty of nasty things to say about these men who have served our country,” he said. “Of course, no need to report them. You have access to Twitter. There is one group of generals the president, however is standing firm with: dead, racist losers. More specifically, the Confederate commanders after whom 10 Army bases are currently named.”
Trump has rejected congressional calls to rename military bases named after Confederate leaders. Efforts to replace the names comes amid the social unrest the country has seen in recent weeks following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Protests across the country called for an end to systemic racism and police brutality.
In recent days, protesters have attacked statues and monuments dedicated to historical figures, many of which had ties to the Confederacy.
The Army recently said that it’s open to potentially renaming its 10 well-known forts named after Confederate officers. The 10 forts include Beauregard, Benning, Bragg, Gordon, A.P. Hill, Hood, Lee, Pickett, Polk, and Rucker.
The Republican-led Armed Services Committee also approved a motion introduced by Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, which requires the Pentagon to rename military bases and assets named after Confederate leaders.
“Seriously failed presidential candidate, Senator Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren, just introduced an Amendment on the renaming of many of our legendary Military Bases from which we trained to WIN two World Wars,” Trump tweeted about the move. “Hopefully our great Republican Senators won’t fall for this!”
Tapper said support for keeping the names of the bases is essentially honoring “men who declared war upon the United States to fight for their right to own and rape and kill black Americans.”
He also agreed with White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who asked at what point does the U.S. stop honoring people with ties to slavery, noting that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves.
“That’s a fine question, and I don’t have an answer,” Tapper said. “Washington and Jefferson had slaves, though their careers were not built on fighting for the right to own slaves. In other words, they’re honored, despite the hideous parts of their histories, not because of the hideous parts of their histories. But before we talk about where this all ends, it does not take much moral clarity to understand that a good place to start would be for the United States to stop honoring traitors and terrorists.”
