Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson offered a shocking defense of Confederate statues today on Fox & Friends. In arguing that they represent a part of America’s “good history,” Pierson asked, “Where would we be today if not for that Civil War?” She also likened those who want to remove the statues to ISIS.
Fox & Friends cohost and Trump slobberer Ainsley Earhardt intended to make the discussion about Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s call for the removal of Confederate statues from the Capitol. Earhardt opened the door for demonizing Pelosi at the start by asking Pierson whether Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan should go along.
Unfortunately for Earhardt and Trump, Pierson’s response was so ridiculously awful, the discussion derailed almost immediately.
PIERSON: Absolutely not, Ainsley. Look, how long has Nancy Pelosi been in Washington, D.C.? Those monuments have been there for a very long time and suddenly Nancy Pelosi wants to actually help these anarchists and these violent protesters tear down pieces of America, American culture, and American history. The only place that that's being done right now is by ISIS and I really don't think that you should have leaders actually encouraging people to do these types of things, because Americans actually love their history, their culture, good and bad, because it helps them learn and it helps keep people educated about why America is so great to begin with.
The other guest was Johns Hopkins University professor, Wendy Osefo. She noted that Confederate monuments came after the Civil War and after the Ku Klux Klan formed.
OSEFO: So this is not a symbol of patriotism. This is a symbol of hatred and division. And while it is a piece of American history, it's not necessarily the good part of American history. It's actually nefarious. So it doesn't deserve a place on state grounds. It deserves a place in museums. And that's where they need to be.
That brought on the following exchange:
PIERSON: It absolutely deserves a place, because bad history is still good history for this country –
OSEFO: Slavery is good history?
PIERSON: -- considering where we are today, where we are today. Absolutely.
OSEFO: Slavery is good history? Absolutely. Oh, wow.
PIERSON: During those times, during those times -- think about this for a second. Where would we be today if not for that Civil War? How would our children even know –
OSEFO: Where would we be without slavery? Are you serious? Do you hear what you're saying?
Eventually Earhardt broke in to say, “It’s clearly a heated topic. …No one’s racist, no one believes in racism or bigotry.”
And who better to reassure us of such a thing than Earhardt who, in 2011, helped demonize anti-segregation efforts in Westchester County, N.Y.? And in 2015, complained that she was “so tired of protecting” rights of “the minority?”
That same Ainsley Earhardt now said, “The president got more African American votes than Mitt Romney did. Is this a winning issue? He won because of jobs, jobs, jobs.”
Sounding like a school teacher, anti-integration Earhardt chided, “Nobody wants to be racist. No one wants bigotry.”
“For anyone to come on national TV and have the flawed rhetoric that these are symbols of America and what is good in America is absolutely, statistically dubious," Osefo insisted. "And that language, right there, is what causes inflammatory behavior and inflammatory actions on U.S. soil.”
Pierson got the last word, even though she had also gotten the first word.
Watch Pierson talk up slavery and the Civil War below, from the August 21, 2017 Fox & Friends, via Media Matters. Some transcript excerpts above are also via Media Matters.
This idea of slaves being civilised by a superior race is one that I heard a lot during the late ’50s, early ’60s when poor white trash had only one thing to claim superiority of a genius like George Washington Carver: they were white (under the dirt)
