Ron DeSantis vows to restore Fort Bragg’s ‘iconic’ name if he wins the presidency in North Carolina’s speech — after it was renamed Fort Liberty in the U.S. military’s most high-profile move to erase Confederate names from bases
- The presidential candidate said he “will not let political correctness in North Carolina go wild” if he wins the White House
- The name of the military base was changed earlier this month because of its ties to the Confederacy and a slave owner
Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has stated that if he wins the White House, he will restore the name of a North Carolina army base after it was changed by the US military because of its Confederate roots.
DeSantis made the controversial remarks during his keynote speech in Greensboro at the North Carolina Republican Party State Convention on Friday night.
Florida’s governor told the crowd he looked forward “to restoring the Fort Bragg name to our great military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina as president.”
“And thank the people who served there. And they take pride in their service there. It’s an iconic name and iconic base.
“We are 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 following a committee recommendation due to the former name’s ties to the Confederacy and a slave owner
Florida’s governor told the crowd he looked forward “to restoring the Fort Bragg name to our great military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina as president.”
The name of the military base was changed to “Fort Liberty” earlier this month after the Department of Defense’s Item Naming Committee recommended that names “commemorating the Confederate States of America or a person who voluntarily served with the Confederate States” of America’ should be removed.
Fort Bragg is named after Confederate Civil War General Braxton Bragg, a North Carolinian who also owned slaves.
The U.S. military has made major efforts, including renaming its estates, to dispel racial injustice within its ranks following the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Fort Liberty is the largest U.S. Army base in the country by population, with approximately 47,000 active duty soldiers.
DeSantis’ comments fit with his “war on wake” campaign, which has led him to feuds with companies such as Disney in Florida.
Internal polling from DeSantis backers shows Florida governor gaining ground against Trump in Iowa state, the first in the nation for the primary.
A new Never Back Down PAC poll shared with Axios shows DeSantis closing the gap between front-runner Trump by 14 percent since his presidential announcement.
In mid-May, before DeSantis officially announced his presidential candidacy at a Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk, he earned 24 percent in Iowa polls compared to Trump’s 48 percent — a 24 percent difference.
Fort Bragg is named after Braxton Bragg, a Confederate Civil War general, a North Carolinian who also owned
Fort Liberty is the largest U.S. Army base in the country by population, with approximately 47,000 active duty soldiers
The United States military has made great efforts, including renaming its estates, to dispel racial injustice within its ranks
DeSantis’ comments fit with his “war on wake” campaign, which has led him to feuds with companies like Disney in Florida
Just a few weeks later, after officially launching his campaign on May 24, the Florida governor earned 29 percent of likely Iowa caucus attendees, to Trump’s 39 percent.
Now the governor is in second place with only 10 percent between him and the former president, while the rest of the field falls further behind the two leaders.
However, following news of former President Trump’s indictment on 37 counts over his handling of classified documents, supporters have suggested the indictment will increase support for Trump by detracting from DeSantis.
A Republican strategist and ally of DeSantis told Politico anonymously they think it’s “too early” to be sure what the backlash will be, but it will likely be bad news for the Florida governor and good news for the ex-president’s White House ambitions.
“I suspect this will clinch (Trump) the nomination and at least keep his polling advantage stable for the next month and stunt DeSantis’ growth,” he said.