Mike Turner Voted To Allow The Confederate Flag To Fly At The Citadel

COLUMBUS — In 2016 during the National Defense Authorization Act markup, Congressman Mike Turner voted with his fellow Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee to adopt an amendment effectively overriding a Democratic proposal to end ROTC support for The Citadel if it continued flying the Confederate flag.

The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina - Charleston, SC
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina – Charleston, SC

“Time and time again, Mike Turner has had the opportunity to stand up to racism, and time and time again, he has voted the other way,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. “Ohioans should be proud of their heritage as a Union state with many soldiers who died fighting against slavery, so it begs the question why any Ohio representative would vote in favor of allowing the Confederate flag to fly at a military college that trains our next generation of leaders.”

“The Confederate flag is an offensive symbol of treason, and it is fundamentally un-American,” said Ohio Democratic Party Vice Chairwoman Rhine McLin. “Mike Turner should have done the right thing, but instead he voted with his party. Ohioans can’t trust Turner because he says one thing in Dayton, but he votes another way when he’s in Washington.”

Turner’s record of failing to stand up to racism also includes his vote against condemning Donald Trump’s racist attack on his fellow members of Congresshis failure to condemn state Sen. Steve Huffman’s offensive commentshis 2019 vote against closing the Charleston loophole and his vote last week against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.


This release was originally published by the Ohio Democratic Party.
https://ohiodems.org/mike-turner-voted-to-allow-the-confederate-flag-to-fly-at-the-citadel/