A Republican state senator in Virginia known for courting controversy and who is running for governor in 2021 is facing backlash from members of her own party after she said that the removal of Confederate statues is an "overt effort to erase all white history.".

Ralph Northam, a Democrat, announced that statues of Gen.

During a five-minute video on Facebook, Chase said Virginia's "Socialist Democrats" were making a mistake if they did something similar.

"There is an overt effort here to erase white history.

"I think it's racially insensitive and racist in itself not to respect the history of all Americans," Chase said, adding: "It's all about shoving this down people's throats and erasing the history of the white people.

"Attempts to eradicate instead of contextualizing history invariably fail," Senate GOP leaders wrote.

In an emailed response to the statement, Chase's adviser, Philip Search, said Friday that the senator invites the GOP caucus to direct their efforts against Northam instead of "colluding with him," and that "Amanda Chase is the first female Republican candidate for Governor and these men can't handle it.".

"We are clearly opposed to removing the statues and erasing American history," Search added.

She was also expelled from the Chesterfield GOP last fall and declined to be a member of the Senate GOP caucus, saying her party needed new leadership after the state Senate and House flipped in favor of the Democrats for the first time in a generation.

The Virginia House GOP caucus has not commented specifically on the removal of the statues, but criticized Northam's handling of the recent protests, as well as the looting and violence, in parts of Virginia, including Richmond.

At a news conference Thursday, Northam said that Virginia will "no longer preach a false version of history" and "in 2020, we can no longer tolerate a system that was based on buying and selling of people."

Lee IV, a distant nephew of the Confederate general, told reporters that he supports the removal of the statue, which went up in 1890 and is part of a historic landmark in Richmond

It is unclear when the Lee statue and others would be removed, although the Democratic-controlled House and Senate approved a bill this year allowing communities, beginning in July, to decide for themselves if they want to remove Confederate monuments