Gillibrand: ‘It’s Not Fair’ People Have to Look at Confederate Soldiers Statues

Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said it was not “fair” people had to look at statues and monuments of  Confederate soldiers while discussing an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) offered by her colleague Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) that would change the names of all Army bases named for Confederate generals and require the removal of monuments that commemorate the Confederacy.

Mitchell said, “The president also tweeting that he is threatening now to veto the entire Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth Warren Monuments Protection Act is in it.”

Gillibrand said, “Look, this country is in a reckoning right now. I think the Black Lives Matter movement as well as the protests that have gone on across my state and across this country are meaningful and powerful.”

She continued, “I think people are tired of having to look at statues, monuments, bases named after Confederate soldiers and generals. It’s not fair, it’s not right. I think for President Trump to threaten to veto the defense bill over this issue that is the right thing to do, again, shows his lack of leadership and shows his disconnect from the American people. ”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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