Donald Trump may speak highly of Robert E. Lee, but one descendant of the Confederate commander says he is “disheartened” by all the praise.
“Last night I was disheartened to hear Donald Trump, our president, make comments about Robert E. Lee as a great general, as an honorable man. These were far from the true,” Robert Lee IV said in a video he posted on Twitter on Saturday.
Lee is the fourth great nephew of the Confederate general.
My response to @realDonaldTrump and his comments last night about my collateral ancestor, Robert E. Lee. pic.twitter.com/ISw6nMspZ1
— Rev. Rob Lee (@roblee4) October 13, 2018
In a mind numbing rant at a rally in Cincinnati, Trump called Gen. Lee “a true great fighter” and a “great general,” and claimed President Lincoln developed a “phobia” of Lee.
Lincoln had no such phobia, and Lee was defeated and surrendered to the Union army.
Lee’s descendent, who is a reverend, took the opportunity to set the record straight about his ancestor.
“Yet again our president is lying and showing us his true colors,” Lee said. “He is showing us that he supports an idol of white supremacy and of hatred. Robert E. Lee fought for the continued enslavement of black bodies. It was for states’ rights, yes, but it was for states’ rights to own slaves.”
Lee resigned as pastor of Bethany United Church of Christ in Winston-Salem last year after some members of the congregation objected to an appearance he made on MTV. There he expressed his view that white Christians need to find “a different way of doing church” that is more aligned with the teachings of Jesus.
“I had to stand up and say, ‘This is what I believe in, and I’m going to stand by it.'”
Lee has said that when he was a boy, he was proud of his family ties to the Confederacy and had a Confederate flag on his bedroom wall. But after going through confirmation at his church, he said he began to understand that it’s important to demonstrate respect for people of all races. He took the flag down.
In the Trump era confederate figures have played a strangely prominent role in recent American politics and controversy.
Calls to remove statues honoring confederate figures inspired the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
Trump has largely supported maintaining Confederate Monuments, and praised Confederate figures himself, while often dismissing Lincoln who is widely regarded by historicans as America’s best president.
