President Donald Trump faced backlash earlier this year, when he waded into the politics of memorials dedicated to the Confederacy. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Trump wades back into monument controversy with Gillespie tweet

President Donald Trump raised the removal of Confederate statues and memorials on Thursday while touting his support for Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.

"Ed Gillespie will turn the really bad Virginia economy #'s around, and fast. Strong on crime, he might even save our great statues/heritage!" Trump tweeted on Thursday.


In a subsequent tweet, the president continued his praise for Gillespie, saying the candidate "will be a great Governor of Virginia."

"His opponent doesn't even show up to meetings/work, and will be VERY weak on crime!" Trump said.

Trump faced backlash earlier this year when he waded into the politics of Confederate memorials, bemoaning on Twitter that the country's “history and culture” were “being ripped apart” by their removal.

The focus on Confederate statues intensified in August, particularly in Virginia, as violence broke out in Charlottesville following a white supremacist rally seemingly to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Gen. Robert E. Lee. The Charlottesville rally broke out into a violent clash between white supremacist groups and counterprotesters, leaving one woman dead and dozens more injured.

Following the rally, Trump said the blame for the violence should be shared by both sides, and infamously said there were “very fine people” in both groups.

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But on Thursday, the president called attention to the "unity" of the Republican Party. After his tweets in support of Gillespie, Trump followed up with another tweet that said, "Do not underestimate the UNITY within the Republican Party!"

The White House has recently wielded its influence in next month’s Virginia gubernatorial race, with Vice President Mike Pence hitting the trail in support of Gillespie.

"Like Donald Trump, Ed Gillespie will put the safety and prosperity of the American people first," Pence said in Virginia this month.

Gillespie, a former George W. Bush administration official and Republican National Committee chairman, is deadlocked in a race against Democrat Ralph Northam, the commonwealth’s lieutenant governor. A recent Monmouth University poll had Gillespie ahead of Northam 48 percent to 47 percent.