Nancy Pelosi Calls On Speaker Ryan To Remove Confederate Statues From Capitol

WASHINGTON, DC — Confederate soldiers and leaders emblazoned in bronze are strewn throughout the halls of the U.S. Capitol, a reminder of the most divisive moment the country's history and a painful memorial for those still affected by the legacy of slavery. On Thursday, as the fallout from a violent white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, continues to roil the nation, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on Speaker Paul Ryan to remove these emblems of the failed Confederate States of America.

“The Confederate statues in the halls of Congress have always been reprehensible," the California Democrat said in a press release. "If Republicans are serious about rejecting white supremacy, I call upon Speaker Ryan to join Democrats to remove the Confederate statues from the Capitol immediately."

She continued: "Under the leadership of Democrats in Congress, we have recognized more women and people of color in Congress’s collection of statues, including Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth and Helen Keller. As Speaker, we relocated Robert E. Lee out of a place of honor in National Statuary Hall – a place now occupied by the statue of Rosa Parks."

President Trump defended preserving Confederate statues on Twitter Thursday morning, even criticism mounts against him from all sides since he appeared to draw an equivalency between the white supremacist marchers in Charlottesville and the counter-protesters.

Without criticizing the president, Ryan has differentiated his position from Trump's. After a press conference in which the president said there were "some very fine people" on both sides of the Charlottesville protests, the speaker tweeted: "We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity."

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