McConnell: Ky.’s Jefferson Davis statue should be in museum

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Kentucky needs to remove a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis from the state Capitol’s rotunda.

McConnell said Davis’ only connection to Kentucky is he was born there. Davis later moved to Mississippi, and Kentucky never officially joined the confederacy. McConnell suggested a better place for the statue would be at the Kentucky History Museum in Frankfort.

Leaders in states across the country have taken steps to remove Confederate symbols following the shooting deaths of nine black people in a South Carolina church last week. A 21-year-old white man has been charged with the murders.

Kentucky’s Republican nominee for governor, Matt Bevin, and the Republican president of the state Senate, Robert Stivers, have also said the statue should be removed.

©2015 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.