CNN anchor claims Trump is erasing Black icons and honoring confederate traitors

CNN host Abby Phillip has a problem with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s recent orders.

Phillip pulled the race card Tuesday night to lambast Hegseth and President Donald Trump over the recent call to remove Harvey Milk’s name from a United States ship, despite Milk being a Navy veteran. It is also being reported that ships named after Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harriet Tubman, Thurgood Marshall, Medgar Evers, Lucy Stone, Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez may be getting the same treatment.

This became a topic of discussion on CNN NewsNight, prompting the host to question if race and gender were behind the potential renaming of these vessels. She also made sure to throw in a quip about the names of “Confederate traitors” being allowed to remain.

“Talk about a warrior ethos,” Phillip said of Tubman. “I mean, what are we doing here? Is the idea just that if you are a woman, if you are a person of color in American history, you don’t get remembered or recorded on a ship? But if you are a Confederate traitor to this country, you do? I mean, Donald Trump back in 2017 said it was sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. You can’t change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, I mean, that’s worth defending, but not Harriet Tubman, Thurgood Marshall, Medgar Evers?”

Political commentator Shermichael Singleton weighed in, admitting that he agrees with Phillip and isn’t sure why Hegseth is messing with ship names.

“Medgar Evers, Harriet Tubman, I think their names should stay on the ships. I mean, these were incredible Americans who withstood insurmountable odds, I mean, certainly things that, hell, I certainly couldn’t imagine today, Abby, in the modern sense. And I would argue, you know, thinking about the warrior ethos, particularly Harriet Tubman, I mean, this is someone who I think really embodies what you would want in a warrior, someone with a level of courage and magnanimity,” he said. “You talked about this once before, Doctor, a couple of years ago. And so I would certainly think she would be someone who would instill the sense of pride and fearlessness you would want in your warriors.”

“I’m not exactly sure why the secretary is making this decision. I know he says he wants to move in a different direction. But those three individuals in particular, I think we should leave their names on the ship,” he added.

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.

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