Whopping 70 PERCENT of Republicans OPPOSE Congress Taking Down Confederate Statues in U.S. Capitol

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A whopping 70 percent of Republicans oppose Congress’ recent vote to remove statues of Confederate figures from the grounds of the United States Capitol.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3005 by a bipartisan vote of 285 to 120, with all 120 no votes coming from House Republicans. The bill would require the removal of ” all Confederate statues and Confederate busts from any area of the United States Capitol which is accessible to the public.,” as well as “Other Statues”:

Other Statues.—Not later than 45 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Joint Committee on the Library shall remove the statue of Charles Brantley Aycock, the statue of John Caldwell Calhoun, and the statue of James Paul Clarke from any area of the United State Capitol which is accessible to the public.

The bill would also require that a bust of Supreme Court Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall replace the bust of Roger Taney, author of the racist Dred Scott decision.

But if 120 Republicans sounds l ike a lot, an even greater percentage of Republican voters oppose removing those statues. A YouGov poll conducted on July 1 asked respondents “The House voted to remove statues honoring Confederate leaders, as well as statues that symbolize ‘slavery, sedition and segregation’ from public display at the United States Capitol. Do you support or oppose this decision?”

Among all respondents, 55 percent support the vote, including 40 percent who “strongly support” the removal of the statues and busts.

But among Republicans, 70 percent say they oppose the decision, including 56 percent who “strongly oppose” and 14 percent who “somewhat oppose.”

Support for the decision is consistent, within a few points of the overall resullt, across all other categories, including gender, age, region, and income. Republicans are the only group polled who oppose the decision, and they do so overwhelmingly. The bill, and this result, come six months after the deadly insurrection that saw the Confederate flag flown by invaders at the U.S. Capitol.