Ron DeSantis promises to restore Fort Bragg’s ‘iconic’ name if he wins the presidency in North Carolina speech – after it was renamed Fort Liberty in the US military’s most significant decision to erase Confederate names from bases
- Presidential hopeful says he won’t ‘let political correctness run wild in North Carolina’ if he wins the White House
- The name of the military base was changed earlier this month due to its ties to the Confederacy and a slave owner
Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has said if he wins the White House he will restore the name of an army base to North Carolina after it was changed by the US military because of its Confederate roots.
DeSantis made the controversial comments during his keynote speech in Greensboro at the North Carolina Republican Party State Convention on Friday night.
The Florida governor told the crowd that he looked forward “as president, restoring the Fort Bragg name to our great military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina.”
“And thank the people who served there. And they pride themselves on their service there. It’s an iconic name and an iconic base.
“We’re not going to let political correctness run wild in North Carolina,” DeSantis added.
The military base’s name was changed to ‘Fort Liberty’ earlier this month after a commission recommendation due to its former name’s ties to the Confederacy and a slave owner
The Florida governor told the crowd that he looked forward “as president, restoring the Fort Bragg name to our great military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina.”
The name of the military base was changed to “Fort Liberty” earlier this month after the Department of Defense’s Commission on Naming Features recommended that names “that commemorate the Confederate States of America or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America” should be deleted.
Fort Bragg was named after Confederate Civil War General Braxton Bragg. a North Carolina who also owned slaves.
The US military has embarked on a broad effort, including renaming its estates, to dispel racial injustice in its ranks after the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Fort Liberty is the nation’s largest U.S. Army base by population, with approximately 47,000 active duty troops.
DeSantis’ comments fit his “war on revival” campaign, which has led him to feuds with companies such as Disney in Florida.
Internal polls from DeSantis backers show the Florida governor gaining ground against Trump in the premier state of Iowa, the nation’s top primary contest.
A new Never Back Down PAC survey shared with Axios has DeSantis closing the gap between frontrunner Trump by 14% since his presidential announcement.
In mid-May, before DeSantis officially announced his presidential run at a Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk, he had 24% in the Iowa polls, compared to Trump’s 48%, a 24% difference.
Fort Bragg was named after Civil War Confederate General Braxton Bragg, a North Carolina who also owned
Fort Liberty is the nation’s largest U.S. Army base by population, with approximately 47,000 active duty troops.
The U.S. military has embarked on a broad effort, including renaming its domains, to dispel racial injustice within its ranks
DeSantis’ comments fit his ‘war on revival’ campaign, which has led him to feuds with companies such as Disney in Florida
Weeks later, after officially kicking off his campaign on May 24, the Florida governor won 29% among likely Iowa caucus members to Trump’s 39%.
Now the governor sits in second place with just 10% between him and the former president, while the rest of the field sits even further behind the two favorites.
However, following news that former President Trump had been indicted on 37 counts of handling classified documents, supporters suggested the indictment would bolster support for Trump at the expense of by DeSantis.
A Republican strategist and DeSantis ally anonymously told Politico they believe it’s “too early” to be certain of the nature of the backlash, but it will likely be bad news for the Florida governor and good news for the ex-president’s White House aspirations.
“I suspect this lands (Trump)’s nomination and at least maintains his polling advantage for the next month and stunts DeSantis’ growth,” he said.
