Presidential hopeful addressed topics such as the toppling of monuments and Indigenous Peoples' Day during podcast
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Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. voiced opposition to the removal of Confederate monuments, including the Robert E. Lee statue that was taken down and melted in Charlottesville, Virginia, adding he did not think "it’s a good, healthy thing for any culture to erase history."
Kennedy appeared on the "TimCast IRL" podcast on Friday, where the host, independent journalist Tim Pool, asked the Independent presidential candidate about activists tearing down statues like those from the Civil War or of former slaves like Frederick Douglass, who fought against slavery.
The host particularly asked if he would condemn those who melted a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was removed from Charlottesville in 2021.
"I don’t think it’s a good, healthy thing for any culture to erase its history," Kennedy said. "I have a visceral reaction against, against the attacks on those statues."
ROBERT E. LEE STATUE MELTED IN SECRET, ‘SYMBOLIC’ CEREMONY, TO BE REMADE INTO ‘INCLUSIVE’ PUBLIC ART
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign rally at Legends Event Center in Phoenix, Ariz. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
He said he grew up in Virginia, and that there were heroes in the Confederacy who didn’t have slaves.
"I just have a visceral reaction against destroying history. I don’t like it. I think we should celebrate who we are," Kennedy said. "We should celebrate the good qualities of everybody…If we want to find people who are completely virtuous on every issue throughout history, we would erase all of history."
A part of the discussion centered around Columbus Day, which Kennedy refers to as Indigenous People’s Day.
A tow truck removes a statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, after it was toppled in front of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, June 10, 2020. (Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Kennedy told Pool that he thinks it is important to recognize all kinds of people, whether Italian-Americans, who celebrate Columbus Day, or indigenous people.
"We can recognize the indigenous people who, you know, made the ultimate sacrifice as one of the greatest genocides in history," Kennedy said. "My father always believed that our country would never live up to its ideals if we didn’t make some kind of amends…to the group that was exterminated in order for us to settle in this country, and I think it’s a good aspiration for every American."
Kennedy did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for further comment on the matter.
Workers remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, after years of a legal battle over the contentious monument, in Charlottesville, Va., July 10, 2021. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that once stood in Charlottesville was secretly melted down at a ceremonial event.
After both cultural and legal battles, the statue of Lee that sparked the infamous Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally was reportedly melted in a secretive ceremony in order to ensure the safety of those involved. The Washington Post reported that the statue met its end "in a 2,250-degree furnace" when it was "secretly melted down" to become a new piece of public art.
Footage of Lee’s likeness being melted went viral across social media.
The "Unite the Right" rally took place in Charlottesville in August 2017, and participants included far-right White supremacist sympathizers upset over the proposed removal of Lee's statue, as well as many counter-protesters.
On Aug. 12, James Fields Jr. deliberately rammed his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens.
Fox News Digital's Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
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