NC Lt. Governor wants Graham statue to replace Aycock’s at US Capitol

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Should a statue of Billy Graham represent North Carolina in the US Capitol?

One of the state’s top leaders wants to get the process going.

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest sent a letter to the Architect of the US Captiol today reminding him the General Assembly passed a law back in 2015 to have a statue of Graham replace Charles B. Aycock in the capitol’s Statuary Hall.

“Today, as Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina and President of the North Carolina Senate, I write to encourage you to approve North Carolina’s request to replace Governor Aycock’s statue with one of Rev. Graham,” Forest wrote.

Aycock was North Carolina’s governor from 1901 to 1905. There’s been a push to remove Aycock’s name from places of honor in recent years because of his white supremacist views.

Graham died last week at his home in Montreat. His body will lie and honor tomorrow and Thursday at the U.S. Capitol.

Graham’s funeral and burial are scheduled for Friday at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.