Mitch McConnell: 'There are no good neo-Nazis'

Lexington, Kentucky, is poised to be the next Charlottesville as white nationalists have announced plans to protest the removal of two Confederate statues from outside the former Fayette County Courthouse, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. But protesters won't be acting with any approval from their senator, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): "The white supremacist, KKK, and neo-Nazi groups who brought hatred and violence to Charlottesville are now planning a rally in Lexington," McConnell said in a statement Wednesday. "Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America."

Throughout his career, McConnell has demonstrated a "longstanding commitment to civil rights legislation," The New York Times writes. McConnell was one of first Republican voices to call for the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina capital in 2015, although he was more hesitant about removing monuments, claiming: "One thing I am not in favor of erasing is our history. The Civil War was a part of our history and there were actually good people on both sides of that war."

On Wednesday, though, he made himself clear. "We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred," McConnell said. "There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head."

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