A debate has been sparked on social media after President Donald Trump blasted Democrats for their efforts to remove John Wayne’s name from a California airport. In a tweet shared Monday morning, the president said that such efforts were an example of “incredible stupidity.” His remarks came after Princeton University announced that it would remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from its public policy school over “racist thinking and policies” and after a push to have John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California renamed.
Can anyone believe that Princeton just dropped the name of Woodrow Wilson from their highly respected policy center. Now the Do Nothing Democrats want to take off the name John Wayne from an airport. Incredible stupidity!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2020
On Friday, the Democratic Party of Orange County passed a resolution calling for the Orange County Board of Supervisors to remove Wayne’s name, statue, and other likenesses from the international airport and “restore its original name: Orange County Airport,” according to The Hill. The resolution also condemned Wayne for “racist and bigoted statements” he made during a 1971 interview with Playboy. In that interview, Wayne made several derogatory comments about Blacks, Native Americans, and the LGBTQ community.
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Just as the resolution had, Trump’s tweet immediately sparked a vibrant and heated discussion on social media. While some seemed to agree with the president, many felt that such changes were necessary and that Trump’s words as well as his reluctance to comment on or acknowledge the racist pasts of such figures was only furthering the divide in the nation. Keep scrolling to see what social media has to say.
imagine being this proud of being this much on the wrong side of racism
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) June 29, 2020
Woodrow Wilson was a racist. So are you.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) June 29, 2020
Woodrow Wilson segregated the federal offices and civil service that President Ulysses S. Grant opened up to all races and creeds. Wilson threw African American civil rights leader William Monroe out of the White House and called blacks “an ignorant and inferior race.”
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) June 29, 2020
Princeton is absolutely right to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from its School of Public Policy. And when it comes to the John Wayne, he once said “I believe in white supremacy,” thought slavery was good, and that Native Americans “selfishly trying to keep [land] for themselves.”
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) June 29, 2020
STATUES/SYMBOLS versus PEOPLE
— MURRAY 🗽 (@murray_nyc) June 29, 2020
Trump’s “outrage” about the removal of statues, names & symbols associated with a RACIST PAST is embarrassing. He is more concerned with these things than he is HUMAN LIVES.
Why is he trying to protect symbols associated with RACISM?
How is this your priority this morning?!?#WorstPresidentEver https://t.co/cnzH3IqBQd
— Deja M. Burt (@Hoosyourdaddy99) June 29, 2020
Wait till you see what they do with anything named Trump. @realDonaldTrump
— NoelCaslerComedy (@CaslerNoel) June 29, 2020
The Do Nothing Democrats are Doing A Lot. You, not so much.
— Devin Nunes’ cow 🐮 (@DevinCow) June 29, 2020
The do nothing democrats, as you call them, aren’t sitting around playing golf at the taxpayers’ expense, or idly letting foreign powers put bounties on the heads of Americans overseas.
— stageninja (@StageninjaDI) June 29, 2020
If there’s one thing you’re an expert at, it’s doing nothing.
Woodrow Wilson was a Democrat and KKK supporter. If the Democrats can admit he was wrong, you can admit the entire Confederacy was wrong.
— N0where (@_N0where) June 29, 2020
Do you do anything but tweet and name call?
— Shari Lynn (@LynnSharig8) June 29, 2020
No one feels sorry for racists like John Wayne (Marion Michael Morrison), Woodrow Wilson, or you, unless they’re ignorant or racist themselves. Pack your bags, #TraitorTrump #BlueWave2020 #TrumpIsARacist https://t.co/ZQWUtcAFMP
— Blue Wave Patriot (@BlueWavePatriot) June 29, 2020
You sure complain a lot about what the “Do Nothing Democrats” are, ya know, doing. https://t.co/sLsowmATeL
— Josh (@themeparkjosh) June 29, 2020
Fun fact: John Wayne was a white supremacist, like you. He said in a Playboy interview in 1971, “I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to the point of responsibility.” Are you going to take this down like you did your “White Power” video? I doubt it.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) June 29, 2020
