In an act of desperation during the final days of the Republican primary, one of Ed’s opponents has re-upped his false claim that Ed is “okay with taking down Robert E. Lee.”
This is one hundred percent false, untrue, and totally made up. Ed Gillespie has consistently opposed efforts to take down historical statues, including Civil War monuments.
This lie started with a fake Washington Post headline shared on Facebook:
Now a group aligned with Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Corey Stewart, a firebrand conservative supportive of Trump, has weaponized a fake headline to attack rival Ed Gillespie, the GOP establishment’s pick for governor. At issue: Gillespie’s level of support for Virginia’s Confederate monuments.
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A conservative nonprofit with ties to Stewart campaign aides — the Conservative Response Network — subsequently posted and promoted a Facebook post linking to the article but with a fake headline: “Gillespie: I’m OK with Charlottesville Taking Down the General Lee Monument.”
In fact, Gillespie has said he doesn’t support moving the statue and thinks local officials who approved moving it should be voted out of office. But Gillespie said it’s an issue to be left at the local level.
That’s right. Ed does not support removing any statues — including Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee statue. But that hasn’t stopped Corey Stewart and his campaign from repeating this lie in TV and radio ads, with robocalls, and on social media.
It’s a sign of a failed campaign that they would actually spend tens of thousands of dollars spreading a bald-faced lie in order to win votes. We know Virginia Republicans won’t be fooled by this pathetic, poorly-produced ad.