WASHINGTON — On the campaign trail in a college town, a controversial figure running to become Virginia’s next governor got less than a warm welcome. In fact, a mob shouted him down in Charlottesville as he defended a Confederate statue.
Corey Stewart made a campaign stop Saturday at Lee Park in Charlottesville, where a statue of Robert E. Lee stands. Stewart was there to protest against the Charlottesville City Council’s decision to have statue of the Confederate general removed.
The protesters shouted, “White supremacy has got to go” during Stewart’s speech, which he broadcast on Facebook Live. In the speech, he said “the left” was trying to shut him down.
The protesters were successful in drowning out his message.
Stewart called out the protesters “for who they are,” The Washington Post reported. “It’s really a symptom of the problem of the left and their unwillingness to listen to alternate points of view.”
“Not only do they have no respect for our heritage, they have no respect for any of our other great American — and Virginian — heroes,” he said.
Stewart is running for the GOP nomination for Virginia governor and is chairman of the Prince William County Board of supervisors.
