Trump chief of staff John Kelly says US Civil War was caused by 'lack of compromise'

‘I would tell you that Robert E Lee was an honourable man’

Rachael Revesz
Tuesday 31 October 2017 14:58 GMT
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'It shows a lack of appreciation of history'
'It shows a lack of appreciation of history'

Donald Trump’s chief of staff has said the Civil War was due to a “lack of compromise” and praised a famous slave owner as an “honourable man”.

When asked by Fox News’ host Laura Ingraham about the recent move to scrap symbols of the confederacy across the US, John Kelly praised Robert E Lee.

“I would tell you that Robert E Lee was an honorable man,“ Mr Kelly said.

“He was a man that gave up his country to fight for his state which in 150 years ago was more important than country.

“It was always loyalty to state first back in those days. Now it's different today. But the lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War. And men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had to make their stand.”

His comments came shortly after a church in Virginia decided to relocate the markers which honour Lee and former President George Washington, who also owned slaves on his plantation. The church official told the Associated Press that they made their decision after a woman called Heather Meyer was killed during a counter-protest against a white nationalist rally which wanted to use a statue of Lee.

Mr Kelly warned against the “slippery slope” to judge American icons and figures of history.

“I think it's just very, very dangerous. It shows you what — how much of a lack of appreciation of history and what history is,” he said.

Despite Congress passing several compromises which would have allowed slavery to expand in certain regions of the US, conflict spilled into war in the 19th century.

“Notion that Civil War resulted from a lack of compromise is belied by all the compromises made on enslavement from America's founding,” tweeted writer Ta-Nehisi Coates.

George W Bush’s former ethics lawyer Richard Painter added: “Trying to impress his boss to keep his job.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders supported Mr Kelly's remarks during her daily press briefing Tuesday, saying that, just because an historical figure is flawed, it "doesn't diminish their contributions to our country." She cited former Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John F Kennedy as examples of men who were flawed but still made meaningful contributions ot society.

Ms Huckabee Sanders later left the White House press briefing room to shouted questions asking if the White House supports slavery, which she did not answer.

Mr Kelly’s views were echoed by Mr Trump, who said in August: “I wonder: Is it George Washington next week, and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?” Trump said. “You know, you really do have to ask yourself — where does it stop?”

Mr Trump came under fire for responding to the Charlottesville protests by saying there were “some very fine people on both sides”.

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