Julie Fine

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Speaks Out on Confederate Monuments

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, answered questions Thursday about Charlottesville and the future of Confederate monuments during a visit to North Texas.

Cruz, speaking to reporters at the Mary Kay headquarters in Addison, was asked if President Donald Trump went far enough condemning the events in Charlottesville last weekend.

"I am going to speak for myself. When it comes to the Klan, when it comes to the Nazis and white supremacists, they are unambiguously evil. They are racists. They are bigots, and as we saw tragically in Charlottesville, far too often Nazis and Klansmen have resorted to violence and murder," Cruz said.

He added later, "When you do see hateful, racist, bigoted speech personified by Nazis and Klansmen, I believe all of us have the moral obligation to call it out unequivocally."

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to reporters at the Mary Kay headquarters in Addison on a number of topics, including the president's remarks on the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

As more cities discuss whether or not to take down Confederate monuments, Cruz was asked if he thought they should come down. The senator said that is up to the communities to make that decision.

"I think it's appropriate that different communities will make different decisions. I don't think it is beneficial to go though and try to sanitize history and try to erase the Civil War. We have a history that needs to be presented fairly. It needs to be presented in context. It needs to clearly enunciate the evils of slavery, but also a great many Americans fought and bled and died to end slavery," Cruz said.

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