Gaetz condemns Charlottesville violence, KKK during Pensacola visit; wants statues to stay

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, condemned violence by hate groups during a stop at the National Naval Aviation Museum early Wednesday. 

"Here in this place where we celebrate liberators and the good that America has done in the world, I have to say in the strongest possible terms that I condemn the horrible acts of some of the white supremacist groups, the KKK. What we saw, it is just deeply, deeply troubling," he said.  

At a stop at Pace High School later Wednesday, Gaetz said he did not support Mayor Ashton Hayward's call to take down a Confederate monument on Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola. 

Gaetz said removing such monuments was "whitewashing history." 

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"The Civil War was a horrible thing, tens of thousands of people died, but the theory that we can go and rip up our monuments and pretend that history didn't happen, I oppose that," said Gaetz, who also thanked President Donald Trump for his leadership. 

"I am grateful that the president has called for national unity to go against this extremism that we have in our society," he said. 

During the museum event on Wednesday morning, Gaetz said he had just returned from a trip to Israel where he and a bipartisan group of legislators met with representatives of the Palestinian Authority. 

"Our job was to go and pressure the Palestinians to stop the incitement of violence that exists in their schools," he said. 

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Gaetz said the group encouraged the Palestinians to stop naming schools after terrorists and stop using characters such as Maya the Martyr in textbooks.

"You can only imagine my personal disappointment when we walked out and, just hours later, saw the events in Charlottesville. We saw Americans harming each other and engaging in political violence," he said. 

Gatez said the museum at Pensacola Naval Air Station is a tribute to America's positive role in the world.