Florida GOP candidate wants to move Trump’s Walk of Fame star his state: Mike Hill, a former state representative in Florida who is running for the Republican nomination for a House race in the state, wants to bring President Trump's Hollywood Walk of… https://t.co/RRqF7szpm6 pic.twitter.com/uyXJqKaf4l
— Patrick (@cahulaan) August 23, 2018
Plaza named for Robert E. Lee? Check!
Confederate monument? Check!
Fake mockup of the President’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star? Check!
Wingnut running for elected office? Check!
Pensacola News Journal take it away!
A former state representative and current candidate for Florida House District 1 wants to bring President Donald Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star to Pensacola.
Mike Hill announced via a Facebook Live video Wednesday that he wanted to put the Trump Hollywood star in Pensacola.
“Pensacola, the first settlement in America, is also going to be the city that is going to bring the Trump Hollywood star here to Pensacola,” Hill said in the video. “I want you to join me, Pensacola.”
Hill made the announcement while holding a life-size photo of the Trump star in front of the Confederate monument in Lee Square in downtown Pensacola with a campaign sign for his state House run placed next to him.
“When I’m in office, I’ll be able to do even more to make sure that this star gets here and stays here,” Hill said in the video. “Let’s go, Pensacola. Let’s make this work.”
Hill told the News Journal on Thursday that the video was not a political stunt.
“I did not create the timing of when the star was destroyed in Hollywood,” Hill said. “… Even if I were not running for office, this would be something that I would do because I so support our president Donald Trump and what he is doing.”
Hill is running for the Republican nomination for House District 1. The seat is being vacated by Rep. Clay Ingram, who is term limited. District 1 covers much of Escambia County, mostly north of the city limits of Pensacola.
Hill said he would raise the money for the star through donations and possibly hold an online contest to pick a location for the star.
Once a location is decided, Hill said he would petition the city of Pensacola to place the star at that location.
Hill said the decision to make the announcement in front of the Confederate monument was just where he happened to be when he met a friend to shoot the video, but he added that he supports keeping the Confederate monument.
“History is what makes us up as a people,” Hill said. “The good, the bad and the ugly, and we learn from it, and we move on, getting better from it. Not tearing it down and trying to forget it.”
Hill said he thought putting the Trump star in Pensacola hits all three levels of government.
“It’s a national issue: showing support for our president and what he’s doing,” Hill said. “It’s a state level issue: respecting our monuments as they are erected, including perhaps a Trump star, and at the local level: where we decide where it’s going to be placed as a people.”
Supporting treason in the defense of slavery is no way to go through life, let alone seek public service.
Open thread!