The Senate's sole black Republican on Tuesday rebuked chief of staff John Kelly's claim the Civil War was caused by the inability to compromise, saying "there was no compromise to make," only a choice to continue or end slavery.
In a statement, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. — who has been outspoken about racism and met with President Donald Trump after a violent white supremacist rally in Virginia — said it was time to stop "relitigating and referencing the Civil War as if there was some moral conundrum," HuffPost reported.
"There was no compromise to make – only a choice between continuing slavery and ending it," he said, according to the HuffPost. "We need to move forward together, instead of letting the divisions of the past continue to force us apart."
Kelly on Monday said a "lack of ability to compromise led to the Civil War," triggering the ire of historians, including Stephanie McCurry, a history professor at Columbia University, who told The Washington Post that Kelly's comments echoed talking points of a "pro-Confederate view of the Civil War."
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