Former President Trump criticized the removal of a Thomas Jefferson statue from New York City Hall on Tuesday, contending that Jefferson was being “evicted” from the legislative chamber.
“Well, it’s finally happened. The late, great Thomas Jefferson, one of our most important Founding Fathers, and a principal writer of the Constitution of the United States, is being 'evicted' from the magnificent New York City Council Chamber,” Trump said in a statement.
The New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously on Monday to relocate the 188-year-old statue that for years sat in the building’s city council chambers.
The statue will be moved to an undetermined location by the end of the year, according to NBC News.
The vote followed a years-long debate regarding the Jefferson statue, which focused on the fact that the former president was a slave owner. According to Monticello.org, the third president owned roughly 130 slaves by the time he died in 1826.
The debate over the statue restarted amid a nationwide unrest following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police last year.
Trump in his statement said the relocation of the Jefferson statute is the first in a series of moves that will affect the legacies of a number of historic U.S. officials, before turning to an attack on Democrats.
“Who would have thought this would ever be possible (I did, and called it long ago!). Next up, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and, of course, George Washington,” Trump said.
“The Radical Left has gone crazy, and it’s hurting our Country badly—But someday soon, sane people will be back, and our Country will be respected again!” he added.
Trump has defended memorials of controversial figures in the past.
He has claimed that removing statues of controversial figures, especially Confederate monuments, erases U.S. history and culture.
Last month, Trump slammed the decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., contending that the move would result in “complete desecration.”
