A CNN panel had a field day on Tuesday attacking Gen. John Kelly for his comments about the Civil War yesterday.
WATCH:
During an interview on Fox News, Gen. Kelly asserted that the Civil War was caused by the “lack of ability to compromise” and called Gen. Robert E. Lee an “honorable man.” (RELATED: Kelly Blames Civil War On A ‘Failure To Compromise’ [VIDEO])
The panel ripped into his comments the following morning, calling them “very troubling” and “bigotry being ignored and rationalized.”
“This was not a close call,” contributor David Gregory said. “America mattered then and it matters now. History is not history when it comes to the Civil War. These monuments were put up during Reconstruction to stick it to free black people and to let them know there would be a new Jim Crow.”
Anchor Chris Cuomo argued that Gen. Kelly’s comments prove he is not going to politically temper President Trump.
“It was about slavery, not a crisis of conscious,” Cuomo said. “It’s bigotry being ignored and rationalized, and Kelly is not going to make it better — he’s making it the same or worse.”
Political analyst John Avlon chimed in, accusing Gen. Kelly of using language “out of mid-20th century textbooks” that sought to memorialize the leaders of the Civil War and deny that they were motivated by slavery.
“The Civil War didn’t come just because good people couldn’t compromise on both sides,” Avlon concluded. “It came about because of slavery, and if that gets ignored, the real history gets ignored.”
WATCH: GEN. KELLY TALKS ABOUT CONFEDERATE STATUES
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