Don Jr calls for statues of Trump to be erected in place of toppled racist statues: 'All nonsense will stop'
President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, on Tuesday morning, June 23, called for statues being taken down across the United States to be replaced with a "more sturdy" likeness of his father.
Trump Jr remarked on the ongoing debate over racist and Confederate monuments in public places, suggesting that a statue of President Trump should be placed in the place of the ones that have already been taken down amid widespread protests over systemic racism in the country.
"Want to save our monuments? Let's get a movement going to replace any statue torn down during these riots with a new and more sturdy statue of @realDonaldTrump," Trump Jr tweeted. "The nonsense would stop instantly."
The president's son's suggestion, however, was mocked by social media users who stated that the point of problematic statues being taken down was to "erase the monuments to racism."
One Twitter user wrote: "The point of removing the statues is to erase the monuments to racism and intolerance, putting up a statue of RACIST @realDonaldTrump would mean we are continuing to erect monuments to racism." While another pointed out the irony in Trump Jr's suggestion, writing: "Not sure he understands what he's saying here."
Another tweeted: "A permanent statue of my father is such a horrible thing that the threat of Trump replacement statues will deter ppl from tearing down Confederate-type statues 'Hey guys, a confederate statue is the lesser of two evils, amirite?'"
Trump Jr's tweet came hours after President Trump announced that any protesters vandalizing or tearing down statues could be slapped with at least 10 years of prison time. The Republican leader, on Tuesday morning, had tweeted: "I have authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the US with up to 10 years in prison, per the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act, or such other laws that may be pertinent..."
"This action is taken effective immediately, but may also be used retroactively for destruction or vandalism already caused. There will be no exceptions!" he added.
A day before, on Monday, June 22, Trump had also denounced the decision to remove a statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt from the front steps of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, calling it "ridiculous". The Republican took to Twitter on June 22, ordering authorities to not take down the statue, which depicts Roosevelt on horseback leading two figures, one African and one Native American.
Trump retweeted a Washington Post article, which called the statue "problematic" and stated New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio's statement of its imminent removal. "Ridiculous, don’t do it!" the president tweeted. The decision to remove the controversial statue from the museum was announced on Sunday, June 21, jointly by city officials and the museum staff. The authorities made the decision in the wake of recent widespread protests over the death of George Floyd and systemic racism in the United States. They said that the recent protests were the reason they reflected on the statue's controversial depiction of black and indigenous people.
