On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her recent comment that appeared to brush off the tearing down of a Christopher Columbus statue in Baltimore, Breitbart reported.
“Tearing down monuments is not protests,” Pence said. “Burning churches is not free speech. To have the Speaker of the House tacitly affirm the rule of the mob is unconscionable.”
When pressed on whether the removal of the statute should be handled by a commission or the city council as opposed to a mob, Pelosi did not appear concerned.
“People will do what they do,” she said.
According to Pence, Pelosi’s statement is a “surrender to the mob.”
“We’re not going to have it. The American people know the foundation of our prosperity is law and order and the rule of law. We’re going to continue to stand strong for the rule of law against the rule of the mob.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also took aim at Pelosi’s comments and suggested that she was defending the mob.
As reported by The Baltimore Sun , Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young had harsh words for the people who tore down the statue and said they would be “brought to justice.”
“We support peaceful protest. This is not a peaceful protest. It is unacceptable.”
Young said that protesters should focus on learning from history as opposed to erasing it. He pointed to the Columbus statue and said it could be used to spark a discussion that addresses the United States’ “dark past.”
Per Fox News , Pelosi said that communities bear responsibility and power over deciding what historical monuments they want to keep. She also claimed that the removal of the Columbus statue did nothing to hurt her pride as an Italian American. However, she expressed support for a more organized, community-based process for statute removal.
The removal of the Columbus statue is part of a pattern of vandalism that has continued following George Floyd’s death, Fox News reported. Most of the acts have targeted figures and symbols that are purportedly linked to racism in America’s past. In addition to Columbus, statues of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and George Washington — all of whom owned slaves — have been targeted.
Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson previously accused the Democratic Party of using the mob violence stemming from the Floyd protests for their political bidding. However, he distinguished between the violent mobs and those who are protesters and civil rights activists.
