Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is comparing the protesters who helped topple a statue of a Confederate soldier with Nazis.

The Charlotte Observer reports that McCrory asked Tuesday if the protesters are any different from Nazis who tore down statues and burned books in the 1920s and 1930s. McCrory made the comments on his morning show on WBT radio.

On Monday, protesters at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill brought down the statue known as “Silent Sam” that had stood on campus for more than 100 years. They had decried the statue as a symbol of racist heritage.

McCrory said presidents Thomas Jefferson and George Washington owned slaves and asked if monuments in their honor should be removed.

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