Leave it up to a Fox News Channel talk show host to ask a tone-deaf question.
During a somber discussion by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of a 9/11 memorial on the 16th anniversary of the terror attacks on New York and the Washington area, “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade asked: “Do you worry 100 years from now someone’s going to try to take that memorial down like they’re trying remake our memorials today?”
Zinke was talking about the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, that commemorates the brave airline passengers who battled hijackers and took down a fourth plane on 9/11, preventing an additional terror attack on Washington.
What happened on Flight 93 “is an example of America sticking together,” Zinke had said, adding that the memorial honors “American heroes.”
Kilmeade couldn’t resist piping in with his question that equated the recognition of those who sacrificed their lives to prevent further devastation on Sept. 11 with the push by cities such as Baltimore, Maryland, and many others to remove statues glorifying those who defended the slave-owning Confederacy.
Zinke did not seem fazed ― or offended ― by Kilmeade’s question, Indeed, he treated it seriously:
“Well, I’m one that believes that, you know, we should learn from history. And I think our monuments are a part of our country’s history. We can learn from it.”
He added:
“Since we don’t put up statues of Jesus, everyone is going to fall morally short.”
Perhaps Zinke has never seen the massive tributes to Jesus such as Christ of the Ozarks in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the Lux Mundi in Monroe, Ohio, or — we dunno — a crucifix outside of a church.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misidentified the Ohio town where Jesus statuary has been located as “Lux Mundi”; it is Monroe.