#McConnell ‘OK’ with renaming military bases — but not removing statues from Capitol

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’s “OK” with renaming US military bases named after Confederate soldiers, but doesn’t back removing their statues on display in the halls of the Capitol.

“What I do think is clearly a bridge too far is this nonsense that we need to airbrush the Capitol and scrub out everybody from years ago who had any connection to slavery,” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday, rejecting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s call last week to have the 11 Confederate statues removed.

The Kentucky Republican noted that some former presidents were slaveholders and said he supports the tradition of allowing states to decide which statues they want to be on display in the Capitol complex.

He said it’s preferable for states like Mississippi, home to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, to remove them on their own.

But McConnell broke with President Trump on removing the names of Confederates like Gen. Braxton Bragg from military installations.

“If It’s appropriate to take another look at these names, I’m personally OK with that — and I am a descendant of a Confederate veteran myself,” he said. “With regard to military bases, whatever is ultimately decided, I don’t have a problem with.”

The movement to strip the names of Confederate officers from military bases gained ground with the nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers on May 25.

Across the South, protesters toppled Confederate statues or lopped off their heads.

But Trump said the bases – like Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Hood in Texas – are a part of a “Great American Heritage.”

“The United States of America trained and deployed our HEROES on these Hallowed Grounds, and won two World Wars. Therefore, my Administration will not even consider the renaming of these Magnificent and Fabled Military Installations. Our history as the Greatest Nation in the World will not be tampered with. Respect our Military!,” the president said in a series of tweets last week.

The Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee last week approved a motion requiring the Pentagon to rename the bases over the next three years.

Pelosi argued for immediately removing the statues last week in the wake of Floyd’s death.

“While I believe it is imperative that we never forget our history lest we repeat it, I also believe that there is no room for celebrating the violent bigotry of the men of the Confederacy in the hallowed halls of the United States Capitol or in places of honor across the country,” Pelosi wrote to the Joint Committee on the Library, which manages the collection of sculptures.

With Post wires