Matt Bevin: Remove Jefferson Davis Statue from Kentucky Capitol

Matt Bevin
Win McNamee/Getty Images

After praising South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) for supporting the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Capitol, GOP gubernatorial candidate Matt Bevin called for the removal of a statue of Jefferson Davis from the Kentucky Capitol.

Haley’s capitulation on the Confederate flag came after Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush and others called for the flag’s removal in the wake of the heinous attack on Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Bevin’s did not provide the motivation for his call to remove the Jefferson Davis statue in Kentucky, except to suggest that some parts of “history” ought to be remembered in a capitol while others can be banished to a museum.

Bevin called for the statue’s removal via email. WAVE-TV reporter Theo Keith tweeted a copy of the email, in which Bevin said:

I applaud Governor Haley’s decision to call for the removal of the Confederate Flag from Capitol grounds in South Carolina, and I think it would be equally appropriate for Kentucky to remove the Jefferson Davis statue from our capitol. It is important never to forget our history, but parts of our history are more appropriately displayed in museums, not on government property.

Bevin offered no details on how far the push to banish Jefferson Davis from “government property” will go. After all, Jefferson Davis was born in Fairview, Kentucky, which is home to the Jefferson Davis Historic Site.

The site is part of the Kentucky State Parks system and includes the Jefferson Davis monument, which “stands [as] the fourth tallest monument in the United States. It is the tallest poured in place concrete obelisk in the world.”

No word yet on the future status of the monument or the July 4 celebrations planned at the Jefferson Davis Historic Site.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

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