Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Sunday his home state and others should do a better job in selecting statues to be displayed in the U.S., as pressure to remove Confederate statues has ramped up after a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month.
Each state is allowed to select two historic figures to be displayed as statues inside the U.S. Capitol, and as many cities across the country are removing statues of Confederate civil war leaders, House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California is calling for the U.S. Capitol to do the same.
Mr. Kaine, the Democratic Party’s 2016 vice presidential nominee, added to the pressure on Sunday, saying his state should consider Pocahontas, or civil rights leader Barbara Johns or Gov. Douglas Wilder, the first African American elected governor.
“From 2017 looking backward, I think Virginia could probably do better,” said Mr. Kaine during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I think a number of the other states could do better as well.”
Currently, Virginia’s statues represented inside the Capitol are the first president of the United States, George Washington, and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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