Meghan McCain thinks removal of statues has gone too far: 'Are you uncomfortable with Mount Rushmore?'

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On Monday’s episode of The View, Meghan McCain questioned the recent removal of a Theodore Roosevelt statue, seeing it as a potential slippery slope in editing America’s history.

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Sunday announced it was removing the statue of Roosevelt outside its entrance. The decision was made not because of Roosevelt himself but because of the Native American and Black figures depicted in the work flanking his horse.

McCain pushed back on this decision, saying, “We are entering a phase right now that I am not entirely comfortable with when we are going to completely eliminate all people who had anything to do in American history with something that’s problematic.”

The Theodore Roosevelt Equestrian Statue, which sits on New York City public park land is seen in front of the The American Museum of Natural History  on Central Park West entrance June 22,2020. - The American Museum of Natural History will remove the Theodore Roosevelt from its entrance after objections that it symbolizes colonial expansion and racial discrimination, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
The Theodore Roosevelt Equestrian Statue, which sits on New York City public park land in front of the American Museum of Natural Historyin Manhattan. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

McCain countered the decision to take down the Roosevelt statue by raising issues with New York City and Yale University, both of which are named after figures associated with the slave trade. She questioned if Mount Rushmore, which depicts Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, would get caught in the cultural crossfire too.

“The question I have is: How far does this go?” McCain asked. “Are we talking about removing Mount Rushmore if we don’t like our Founding Fathers? Are we talking about removing Robin Williams’s character from Night at the Museum [because] he portrays Teddy Roosevelt.”

Whoopi Goldberg pushed back on McCain’s argument, explaining why historical figures were being reevaluated now. “All of these [statues] were put out by folks who were not affected really by it,” she said. “It looked really heroic, and now folks who are affected say, ‘We want some of our heroes to participate in this.’ I think that’s what this is really all about.”

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