DeSantis wants to restore the name of an army base to honor one of the least competent Confederate generals

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has vowed to restore the name of a Confederate general to a U.S. Army base in North Carolina.

During a GOP convention in North Carolina Friday, DeSantis told his crowd that if he were elected president, he would change the newly renamed Fort Liberty base back to Fort Bragg, after Confederate general Braxton Bragg.

The base is just one of the nine Army installations named for Confederate generals that are now going through renaming processes as part of a 2020 bipartisan defense appropriations bill.

“It’s an iconic name and an iconic base, and we’re not going to let political correctness run amok in North Carolina,” DeSantis said in front of the cheering crowd.

Former Vice President Mike Pence also showed support for bringing back the base's old name at Friday's convention.

Braxton Bragg is largely considered one of the least competent Confederate generals, as noted by the 2016 book by Earl Hess titled, Braxton Bragg: The Most Hated Man in the Confederacy. Bragg is known for leading several costly and unsuccessful attempts at invasion.

Bragg resigned from the army in 1856 to become a sugar plantation owner in Louisiana.

Fort Bragg was named after the general during the Jim Crow Era in 1918. It was just one of many army bases in the South named after Confederate generals during the time.

The base was renamed Fort Liberty by the naming commission because "liberty remains the greatest American value," the Associated Press reports.

Florida's bill to prevent cities from removing Confederate monuments did not pass during this year's legislative session, although its Republican sponsor has vowed to file it for consideration again in 2024, the Florida Times Union reports.

This post first appeared at our sibling publication, Orlando Weekly.