Kevin McCarthy Rails Against Critical Race Theory, Likens It to Jim Crow in Remarks Supporting Removal of Confederate Statues

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he supports legislation to remove Confederate statues in the U.S. Capitol, saying they’re “statues of Democrats.”

“Let me state a simple fact,” McCarthy said. “All the statues being removed by this bill are statues of Democrats.”

He even said “the bill should go further” and suggested, “Maybe it’s time the Democrats change the name of their party. They may be desperate to pretend their party has progressed from their days of supporting slavery, pushing Jim Crow laws, or supporting the KKK.”

McCarthy even invoked critical race theory, saying Democrats are “replacing the racism of the past with the racism of the critical race theory.”

“They continue to look at race as the primary means of judging a person’s character,” he continued, saying it’s spreading under the Biden administration. “By advocating for it, Democrats continue to fuel hatred and division across the country.”

State-sponsored racism is wrong and always will be. It was wrong when it was segregated lunch counters of Jim Crow. And it was wrong when it was segregated classrooms of critical race theory.

The House minority leader restated his support for removing the Confederate statues and said, “I applaud the Democrats for standing up, removing Democrat statues from Democrat-controlled majorities sent to a Democrat-majority House who accepted them.”

Last year the House passed a bill to remove those statues, with 72 Republicans — including McCarthy — joining all Democrats in voting for it. It did not advance in the Senate, and now the House is taking the measure up again.

You can watch above, via C-SPAN.