President Donald Trump is restoring the original Confederate names of Army bases like Fort Lee, undoing a trend of leftist cultural revisionism that escalated in the Biden era.
The stunning reversal is certain to anger Trump’s critics in the Democratic Party.
Democrats accuse Trump of celebrating traitors who fought to defend white supremacy.
The president announced the change to a crowd of soldiers at Fort Bragg, who erupted into cheers over the news.
“For a little breaking news,” Trump said.
“We are also going to be restoring the names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort A.P. Hill, and Fort Robert E. Lee.”
The traditional names of the bases were erased as part of the racial “reckoning” that followed the death of George Floyd.
Trump, who has long opposed “politically correct” efforts to erase American heritage, vetoed a military bill in the waning days of his first term that required bases to be renamed.
However, Congress overrode him.
The political climate has changed considerably since then, with the post-Floyd “racial reckoning” and radical ideologies like “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) in retreat.
While Trump is bringing back the old names, the seven bases will honor different namesakes.
The new Fort Lee will be named after Private Fitz Lee, who received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Spanish-American War.
Under Biden, Fort Lee became Fort Greg-Addams.
The new Fort Pickett will honor 1st Lt. Vernon W. Pickett, who destroyed Nazi positions with grenades in France.
Pickett was captured and later escaped before dying in combat, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross.
Fort Hood will return to being Fort Hood, but this time it’s being named after Col. Richard B. Hood.
Hood was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in World War I.
Fort Gordon, formerly Fort Eisenhower, will be named after Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, who received a posthumous Medal of Honor for his bravery in the Battle of Mogadishu, also known as “Black Hawk Down.”
Fort Polk in Louisiana will be named for Gen. James H. Polk, who was awarded the Silver Star as commanding officer of the 3rd Mechanized Cavalry Group in World War II.
Fort Rucker will honor Capt. Edward W. Rucker, a World War I aviator who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery against numerically superior German forces.
While Fort A.P. Hill will be named after Lt. Col. Edward Hill, 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Private Bruce Anderson, who each received the Medal of Honor during the Civil War.
In recent years, Confederate leaders have increasingly been seen as traitors, although figures like Robert E. Lee were widely esteemed in the relatively recent past.
None other than President Eisenhower called Lee one of the great Americans.
Trump added another reason for keeping the old names in his speech at Fort Bragg.
“We won a lot of battles out of those forts,” Trump said.
“It’s no time to change. And I’m superstitious.
“You know, I like to keep it going, right?
“I’m very superstitious. We want to keep it going.”
