Minnesota is a fine and noble state. It’s home to Lutherans and snow and Al Franken. Minnesotans should be proud of themselves! And most of them probably are, save one unfortunate exception: Corey Stewart. Stewart now lives in Virginia, where he does many questionable things. He briefly chaired Donald Trump’s state campaign and is now running for the Republican nomination for governor. Since he launched his campaign, he has called Republican challenger Ed Gillespie a “cuckservative,” given an AR-15 away for Christmas, and staged a rally to defend Charlottesville’s enormous statue of Robert E. Lee.
For a Northerner, Corey cares a lot about the Confederacy, and is very angry that the good people of New Orleans recently decided to remove their Confederate monuments:
No Robert E. Lee monument should come down. That man is a hero & an honorable man. It is shameful what they are doing with these monuments.
— Corey Stewart (@CoreyStewartVA) April 25, 2017
“Hero” is doing a lot of work here. Mainly, it is obscuring the fact that Robert E. Lee was a traitor who fought for the right to own human beings.
It is very clear to everyone but the paid protestors & liberal snowflakes. Washington & Jefferson are next if we don't stop this madness. pic.twitter.com/xkaQdljX6S
— Corey Stewart (@CoreyStewartVA) April 24, 2017
What a beautiful image! I could look at it forever. If that makes me ISIS I guess I’ll have to live with that.
Nothing is worse than a Yankee telling a Southerner that his monuments don't matter.
— Corey Stewart (@CoreyStewartVA) April 25, 2017
A lot of things are worse than this! Slavery was worse. Trying to secede from the union over slavery: also worse. Also, Corey, you are from Duluth, Minnesota. Minnesota is many things but it is not the South.
It is easy to move to the South and adopt certain cultural markers, like sweet tea or even ahistorical notions about Southern hospitality, without being racist. In choosing the latter, Stewart reveals just how he really feels about his adopted state.