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GOP Senate candidate praised Virginia’s decision to secede in 2017 speech: report

by Justin Wise - 08/08/18 12:16 PM ET

Virginia Senate candidate Corey Stewart, who has come under fire for supporting white nationalists, in a 2017 speech praised the state’s decision to secede from the United States at the Civil War’s outset.

Stewart, the GOP’s nominee against Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), defended Virginia’s move to secede while making a campaign appearance for his failed attempt to become governor, according to Facebook video first reported by CNN’s KFile.

{mosads}In the video, Stewart argued that “when you say you’re from Virginia, when you travel outside of this state and somebody asks where you’re from, you say with pride, ‘I am from Virginia. I’m very, very proud of it,’ ” Stewart said.

He said that the reason is because of its history, which includes figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe.

“It’s a state of the founders. It’s the state of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution,” he said. “But it’s also the state of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart. Because, at the base of it, Virginians, we think for ourselves.

“And if the established order is wrong, we rebel. We did that in the Revolution, we did it in the Civil War, and we’re doing it today. We’re doing it today because they’re trying to rob us of everything that we hold dear: our history, our heritage, our culture.”

Stewart, who has ardently defended Confederate monuments, was referring to Democrats, the media and establishment Republicans. He said such groups continue to try to convince Virginians there’s something wrong with its culture.

“Unlike Wimpy Tim Kaine, Virginians have a warrior spirit and a rebel heart,” Stewart told CNN when asked about his comments, alluding to the senator he is campaigning against in this year’s midterms.

Stewart’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

CNN noted that an avowed secessionist, George Randall, paid for the event in which Stewart voiced admiration for Virginia’s secession.

The report comes only a few months before November’s midterms. The Republican National Committee (RNC) has not said whether it will support its party’s Senate candidate in his race against Kaine.

Some Republicans fear Stewart’s presence on the ballot could be a drag on the party’s other candidates in this year’s elections.

Tags Tim Kaine