Given Abraham Lincoln’s status as one of America’s most celebrated presidents, it’s not surprising that many statues of him have been erected in his home state of Illinois. But just as fast as they went up, some of those monuments may soon come crashing down — and according to Fox News host Bill Hemmer, Lincoln may not be the only one to face progressives’ wrath.
According to the Washington Examiner, Hemmer issued a stark warning Friday that if those on the left are willing to “cancel” someone like Lincoln, “Bible characters” will surely be next.
“If they start canceling American presidents, they’ll come after Bible characters next,” Hemmer said in response to reporting from fellow Fox stars Carley Shimkus and Dana Perino that the city of Chicago is considering taking down more than three dozen of its monuments, including five of Lincoln.
“Mark my words, right?” Hemmer added.
“More than a single statue”
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement that the “Chicago Monuments and Public Art Project” provides the city a “powerful opportunity” to “come together” to “face our history and what and how we memorialize that history.”
“Given the past year and in particular the past summer that made clear history isn’t past, it is essential that residents are a part of this conversation,” she added.
“This project is about more than a single statue or mural, it’s about channeling our city’s dynamic civic energy to permanently memorialize our shared values, history and heritage as Chicagoans in an open and democratic way,” the mayor said.
“Are we in a transition period?”
Those words didn’t sit well with Fox’s Shimkus, who said she had worked in Illinois and recalled how the 16th president was long celebrated there.
“Forty-one Chicago monuments are under review,” Shimkus noted, according to the Examiner. “Five are of Abraham Lincoln in Illinois — the ‘Land of Lincoln.’ His statue might be removed from the city.
“Way, way back in the day when I was first working in local news, I was at a CBS affiliate in Springfield, Illinois, and Lincoln was everything,” Shimkus reminisced, as The Hill reported. “A part of every aspect of the city and there was even a sandwich named after Abraham Lincoln. I don’t think they’ll take the sandwich name away.”
She went on: “Are we in a transition period in our country right now where our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren might not think of these people the way we do?”
It’s a frightening notion for those of a conservative mindset. “They might not be taught in the same way we know them now,” Shimkus said of the nation’s children, according to The Hill. “I say more statues, not less, not fewer. More opinions, more ideas, not less.”
The post Fox stars warn of consequences as Chicago mulls tearing down statues of historical figures first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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