Davidson says Arlington memorial removal was about political power

The Army’s final design plans advance the memorial’s return, reviving Davidson’s claim that its removal under Biden was about political power, not racial reconciliation.

The Army is moving to bring the Confederate memorial back to Arlington National Cemetery. A representative of the Office of Army Cemeteries presented final design plans for the statue to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday morning, October 15, NBC4 Washington reported¹. On October 17, Federalist writer John Daniel Davidson answered the news on X: “Good. It never should have been removed.”²

Davidson had made that case before the statue came down. In 2022, an independent commission recommended removing the memorial in its final report to Congress; the memorial was removed in December 2023, NBC4 reported. In 2022, Davidson wrote that the only reason to remove the monument had “nothing to do with past or racial reconciliation and everything to do with wielding political power in the present.”³ His new post repeats the charge.

The statue coming back is the same one that was removed. NBC4 reported that its figures include a Black woman depicted as “Mammy” holding what is said to be a white officer’s child, and an enslaved man following his owner to war. When it is reinstalled, new signage will give context about its history, and the statue will be renamed for Moses Ezekiel, the Confederate soldier who designed it and is buried nearby. NBC4 reported that Hegseth announced the return in 2025¹; in a social media post, he wrote, “never should have been taken down by woke lemmings. Unlike the Left, we don’t believe in erasing American history — we honor it.” Unlike the Left, we don’t believe in erasing American history — we honor it.”.”

NBC4 reported that the Army previously estimated the restoration would cost $10 million¹.

NBC4 reported that renovation is underway¹.

The Commission of Fine Arts’ agenda listed the “Reinstallation of the Moses Ezekiel sculpture (formerly known as the Confederate Memorial)” in Section 16 for final review and named the Army as owner of the Arlington National Cemetery property⁴. The next day, 7News reported that the commission had approved the final design that week, moving the project from presentation to an approved design⁵. NBC4 reported that the memorial is expected to return to Arlington next year¹.

Davidson says Arlington memorial removal was about political power

Sources