Former President Donald Trump‘s pledge to restore the Confederate title of a military base that was renamed has sparked criticism on social media.
During a town hall in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Friday night, Trump, the Republican nominee, said he would restore Fort Liberty’s name to Fort Bragg if he wins November’s election against Vice President Kamala Harris.
The base was originally named after Confederate General Braxton Bragg, but was officially renamed Fort Liberty last year as part of a broad Department of Defense initiative to rename military installations with titles of Confederate soldiers.
Trump had opposed the move as president, but Congress overrode his veto to approve defense legislation that included the provision. The calls to remove Confederate symbols grew during the racial justice protests that erupted in the summer of 2020 following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.
“I walked in, the first question that I asked, ‘Should we change the name from Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg?'” Trump said during his opening remarks at the town hall, to raucous applause. “So here’s what we do. We get elected. I’m doing it, I’m doing it, I’m doing it.”
Later, Trump indicated his pledge was the “secret to winning” battleground North Carolina after the crowd booed a man who identified himself as an active duty soldier at Fort Liberty.
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“I think I just learned the secret to winning absolutely and by massive margins,” Trump said. “I’m going to promise to you… that we’re going to change the name back to Fort Bragg…This great-looking soldier just accidentally said Fort Liberty and he got almost booed the hell out of the place.”
Trump’s pledge sparked criticism on social media, including from former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger.
“Public announcement: the Confederacy lost, they were traitors, despicable and disgusting and while we should study them to see how brain worms work, everything honoring the confederacy should be removed,” Kinzinger wrote. “Screw the Confederacy.”
Journalist Aaron Rupar called Trump’s comments “beyond parody.”
Others suggested that many residents of North Carolina, parts of which have been devastated by Hurricane Helene, are unlikely to be thinking about the names of military bases at the moment.
“Because what is foremost on the minds on North Carolinians right now is restoring honors to an incompetent Confederate General who was despised by his staff and men and lost repeatedly before getting fired,” Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of the liberal media company MeidasTouch, wrote on X.
Myron Pitts, the opinion editor of the Fayetteville Observer, wrote: “In case you’re wondering: Bragg and other southern bases shed their Rebel names by federal law in a past defense bill (NDAA). The idea that Trump or anyone would get DC lawmakers to not only defend the old names but affirmatively resurrect the Confederacy is slim to none.”
Asked for comment, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung called the critics “anti-America simps.”
“It’s time to undo Kamala Harris’ DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion], wokification of our military which disrespects the men and women of the armed forces,” he told Newsweek.
Newsweek has contacted the Harris campaign for comment via email.
Some Trump supporters welcomed the former president’s pledge.
“Trump is on fire,” comedian Tim Young wrote.
Another person wrote: “I have spent years at that base and it’s very personal and I think it’s just monumentally a game changer. I’m happy he said that. Very very happy.”