House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) requested that various statues displayed in the halls of Congress be removed on the grounds that these men had voluntarily served the Confederate armies during the Civil War (H.R. 7573).

Ms. Pelosi equates the Confederates (opposed to tariffs set by the federal government) with slavery, according to a mistaken interpretation of the Civil War prevailing today. Yet, they are the portraits of four former House Speakers (Robert M.T. Hunter, Howell Cobb, James L. Orr and Charles F. Crisp) and prominent members of the Democratic Party, like Nancy Pelosi herself.

Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) was quick to pick up on this. Taking the controversy one step further, he introduced a bill to ban the Democratic Party for their history of slavery.

– The Democratic Party’s platforms of 1840, 1844, 1848, 1852 and 1856 affirm that abolitionism diminishes the happiness of the people and endangers the stability and continuity of the Union.
– The 1856 platform declares that state members of the Union are free to practice domestic slavery and may include it in their constitutions.
– The 1860 platform describes the stance of abolitionist states that refused to arrest runaway slaves as subversive and revolutionary.
– The 14th amendment which granted the freed slaves full citizenship was adopted in 1868 by 94% of Republican Party Congress members versus 0% in the Democratic Party.
– The 15th amendment granting freed slaves the right to vote was adopted in 1870 by 100% of Republican Party Contress members versus 0% in the Democratic Party
– In 1902, the Democratic Party passed a law in Virginia eliminating voting rights for over 90% of African Americans.
– President Woodrow Wilson instituted racial segregation of federal government employees and began requiring photographs on job applications.
– The 1924 National Democratic Party Convention, which was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City, was labelled the "Klan-Bake" because of the Ku Klux Klan’s influence within the party.
– In 1964, Democratic Congress members filibustered for 75 days to block the approval of the Civil Rights Act ending racial segregation.