Donald Trump’s latest campaign promise to restore Confederate names to military facilities that have been changed over the last two years drew a sharp rebuke from at least one former Republican member of Congress Friday night.
“Screw the Confederacy,” said former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) in a social media post. “Public announcement: the Confederacy lost, they were traitors, despicable and disgusting and while we should study them to see how brain worms work, everything honoring the confederacy should be removed.”
The fierce pushback from Kinzinger came hours after Trump, while at a rally in the crucial battleground state of North Carolina, repeatedly incited his crowd by insisting that the state’s Army installation Fort Liberty would be changed back to Fort Bragg if he wins the 2024 election next month.
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“Should we change the name from Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg?” the former president asked rallygoers. “Right? So, here’s what we do – we get elected – I’m doing it, I’m doing it. I’m doing it. And we’re leading in all the polls we should win, but remember this: they cheat like hell.
The crowd later booed an active duty soldier who was selected to ask Trump a question when he said he was stationed “here at Fort Liberty.”
“You meant Fort Bragg, right” asked Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) who was onstage alongside Trump at the rally.
“Yes,” he said, according to a clip of the exchange.
The Department of Defense announced in early 2023 that it would implement the renaming of nine Army installations by January 2024. In addition to the name change of the North Carolina base, installations in Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas were affected.
But that didn’t stop Trump from still referring to the North Carolina base by its former name.
“Thank you everybody from Fort Bragg!” Trump said at the conclusion of his rally.