‘Nothing is Worse’: Virginia GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Defends White Supremacist Monuments

Virginia GOP gubernatorial aspirant, Corey Stewart, ignited a small firestorm on Monday after taking a controversial stand against the removal of monuments celebrating the south’s Civil War past.

Stewart, the chairman of Virginia’s Prince William Board of County Supervisors, Tweeted the following:

Nothing is worse than a Yankee telling a Southerner that his monuments don’t matter.

— Corey Stewart (@CoreyStewartVA) April 25, 2017

The Tweet appears to be in response to a stealth decision by the city of New Orleans to remove the Liberty Place monument. The 35-foot obelisk commemorates an 1874 white uprising against a Civil War era biracial municipal government.

Stewart followed up with addition outrage to make sure everyone knew exactly where he stood on commemorating Southern Civil War heritage.

Tonight they tear down the statue of Beauregard. This is just the beginning. @CNN https://t.co/ncLjT3qbPs

— Corey Stewart (@CoreyStewartVA) April 25, 2017

The “Beauregard” he refers to would be Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, and he was the Confederate military officer widely credited with igniting the Civil War with his attack on Fort Sumter in 1861.

The openly sympathetic tone toward the Old South has already cost Stewart many allies in his quest for the GOP nomination, including many his own colleagues on the Board of Supervisors. At least four have thrown their support behind Stewart’s opponent for the nomination, former Republican National Committee chairman, Ed Gillespie.

[image via screengrab]

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!