Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is facing backlash for signing a proclamation ordering a day to honour Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
Lee told reporters this week that a 1969 state law required him to sign the proclamation but declined to say whether he believed the law should be repealed.
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The proclamation designates July 13 as “Nathan Bedford Forrest Day.”
Forrest was a Confederate cavalry general who had amassed a fortune as a plantation owner and slave trader in Memphis before the Civil War.
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By Friday, Lee was receiving pushback from both Republicans and Democrats for signing the proclamation.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted signing it was wrong and urged Lee to change the law.