U.S. President Donald Trump kicked off the country’s July Fourth celebrations Friday night at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, telling the crowd their children “are taught in school to hate their own country” and insisting that what he called a radical assault from the left needs to be stopped to preserve the American way of life.Trump also warned the crowd that the demonstrations against racial inequality that have spread across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis in late May threaten the foundations of American government.Fireworks explode above the Mount Rushmore National Monument during an Independence Day event attended by President Donald Trump in Keystone, South Dakota, July 3, 2020.The president announced that he is ordering the establishment a “National Garden of American Heroes” with statues “of the greatest Americans that ever lived.”Trump did not wear a mask for his address, even though the country is experiencing a raging surge in the coronavirus pandemic.  Most in the crowd did not wear masks either. There was also no attempt to socially distance any of the attendees.Public health officials are concerned that the South Dakota event may end up being a superspreader of the virus, an event at which an usually large number of people are infected.President Donald Trump speaks at Mount Rushmore National Monument on July 3, 2020, in Keystone, S.D.The president talked about each man — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt — whose likeness is carved into the massive mountain.The president gave only the standard patriotic account of each man without any of the complicated portions of their lives.He also did not mention that the mountain is sacred to Native Americans who now consider the site desecrated because of the carvings.Trump said the growing social justice movement in the country “would in truth demolish both justice and society.”Native American protesters demonstrate in Keystone, S.D., ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the memorial July 3, 2020.Trump also said to the cheers of the crowd that the border wall is being built. Building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico was one of Trump’s campaign promises.After his speech, there was a fireworks display, the first at Mount Rushmore in about 10 years.Some politicians, environmentalists and activists had opposed the display because of the dry conditions surrounding the site.  Congresswoman Deb Haaland of New Mexico said the fireworks could pose a threat to what she called the “fragile area” and to firefighters, if a wildfire were started.  
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Speaking to a largely maskless crowd at Mount Rushmore, President Donald Trump said Friday that protesters have waged “a merciless campaign to wipe out our history” amid demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality.The sharp rebuke in a holiday address to mark the nation’s independence follows weeks of protests across the nation, sparked by the Memorial Day death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. Some demonstrators have also destroyed or damaged Confederate monuments and statues honoring those who have benefited from slavery.”This movement is openly attacking the legacies of every person on Mount Rushmore,” Trump said, adding that some on the political left hope to “defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children.”His speech, intended to rev up his conservative base, comes as Trump has seen his standing slump over his handling of the pandemic and response to protests and unrest around the country. With four months until the election, Trump’s hopes for a second term — once buoyed by low unemployment and a roaring stock market — seem uncertain.Amid the headwinds, Trump has sharpened his focus on his most ardent base of supporters as concern grows inside his campaign that his poll numbers in the battleground states that will decide the 2020 election are slipping.Fireworks explode above the Mount Rushmore National Monument during an Independence Day event attended by President Donald Trump in Keystone, South Dakota, July 3, 2020.Trump in recent weeks has increasingly lashed out at “left-wing mobs,” used a racist epithet to refer to the coronavirus and visited the nation’s southern border to spotlight progress on his 2016 campaign promise to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall.The event, while not a campaign rally, had the feel of one as the friendly crowd greeted Trump with chants of “Four more years!” and cheered enthusiastically as he and first lady Melania Trump took the stage.”Those who seek to erase our heritage want Americans to forget our pride and our great dignity, so that we can no longer understand ourselves or America’s destiny,” Trump said.The event drew thousands of spectators, most of them without masks, even as coronavirus cases spike across the country. The president was set to speak before a big fireworks show, the first to be held at the site in over a decade.Hours before Trump arrived, protesters blocked a road leading to the monument. Authorities worked to move the demonstrators, mostly Native Americans protesting that South Dakota’s Black Hills were taken from the Lakota people against treaty agreements. About 15 protesters were arrested after missing a police-imposed deadline to leave.Trump was expecting a South Dakota show of support, with the state Republican Party selling T-shirts that feature Trump on the memorial alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. But concern about the coronavirus risk and wildfire danger from the fireworks, along with the Native American groups’ protests were also present.Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, a Trump ally, had said social distancing won’t be required during the event and masks will be optional. Event organizers were to provide masks to anyone who wanted them and planned to screen attendees for symptoms of COVID-19.President Donald Trump speaks at Mount Rushmore National Monument on July 3, 2020, in Keystone, S.D.Noem, in her own remarks, echoed Trump’s attacks against his opponents who “are trying to wipe away the lessons of history.””Make no mistake: This is being done deliberately to discredit America’s founding principles by discrediting the individuals who formed them,” she said.The small town of Keystone, which lies a couple of miles from the monument, was buzzing with people Friday hoping to catch a glimpse of the fireworks and the president. Many wore pro-Trump T-shirts and hats. Few wore masks.”This is going to rank up in the top Fourth of Julys that I talk about,” said Mike Stewhr, who brought his family from Nebraska.Mike Harris of Rapid City, who said he was a Republican, wore a mask and waved an anti-Trump flag. He also was sporting a handgun on each hip. He said he was worried the event would spark a COVID-19 outbreak.”I think it’s a bad example being set by our president and our governor,” Harris said.Leaders of several Native American tribes in the region raised concerns that the event could lead to virus outbreaks among their members, who they say are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 because of an underfunded health care system and chronic health conditions.”The president is putting our tribal members at risk to stage a photo op at one of our most sacred sites,” said Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.Native American protesters demonstrate in Keystone, S.D., ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the memorial July 3, 2020.Some Native American groups used Trump’s visit to protest the Mount Rushmore memorial itself, pointing out that the Black Hills were taken from the Lakota people.More than 100 protesters, many Lakota, lined the road leading from Keystone to the monument holding signs and playing Lakota music in 95-degree heat. Some held their fists in the air as cars loaded with event attendees passed by. Others held signs that read “Protect SoDak’s First People,” “You Are On Stolen Land” and “Dismantle White Supremacy.””The president needs to open his eyes. We’re people, too, and it was our land first,” said Hehakaho Waste, a spiritual elder with the Oglala Sioux tribe.Several people who once oversaw fire danger at the national memorial have said setting off fireworks over the forest was a bad idea that could lead to a large wildfire. Fireworks were called off after 2009 because a mountain pine beetle infestation increased the fire risks.Noem pushed to get the fireworks resumed soon after she was elected, and enlisted Trump’s help. The president brushed aside fire concerns earlier this year, saying, “What can burn? It’s stone.”Trump has presided over a several large-crowd events — in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and at an Arizona megachurch — even as health officials warn against large gatherings and recommend face masks and social distancing. He plans a July Fourth celebration on the National Mall in Washington despite health concerns from D.C.’s mayor. Trump and Melania Trump plan to host events from the White House South Lawn and from the Ellipse.   
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The United States celebrates its Independence Day holiday this weekend as a campaign to remove symbols of the country’s pro-slavery legacy gains momentum. Efforts to remove monuments that celebrate the Confederacy, a government of 11 slave-holding southern states that seceded from the United States, triggering the Civil War in 1861, began to gain momentum in 2015 after a white supremacist fatally shot nine African Americans inside a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The campaign further escalated after George Floyd, an African American, died in police custody May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial, the world’s largest Confederate monument, is among the many memorials that have been the focus of the removal campaign.  FILE – A youngster plays on a rock in front of the carving on Stone Mountain, in Stone Mountain, Ga., June 23, 2015.The 518-meter-high carving that was substantially funded by the Ku Klux Klan features Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, all of whom were enslavers. Members of the Klan continue to periodically gather at the memorial. FILE – Paint and graffiti cover the Jefferson Davis Memorial in Richmond, Va., June 7, 2020, following a week of unrest in the U.S. against police brutality and racism in policing.Also Wednesday, Mississippi, the only state that continued to incorporate the Confederate emblem on its official flag, retired the banner in a quiet ceremony in the capital city of Jackson. The flag was sent to a nearby museum after Governor Tate Reeves signed legislation ordering its removal. U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 26 to protect statues, monuments and memorials. The move came days after police halted protesters’ efforts to topple a statue of President Andrew Jackson in a park across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. Jackson was also a slave holder. Trump visits the Mount Rushmore National Memorial on Friday to celebrate Independence Day. The 18-meter-high granite carving in the Black Hills of South Dakota depicts slave-holding presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and presidents Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Some Native American groups have been protesting the Mount Rushmore memorial, noting the Black Hills were taken from the native Lakota people. Trump Heads to Mt. Rushmore Amid Controversy President’s visit comes as Americans are urged to stay home to avoid COVID infection and as country faces national reckoning on racismConfederate memorials have also been taken down recently in other states.  In Mobile, Alabama, a statue of Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes was removed in early June and placed in storage days later after city officials agreed to do so. A statue of former Vice President John C. Calhoun, a defender of slavery, was removed from a pedestal in Charleston, South Carolina on June 24 after the city council’s approval. Many African Americans and a growing number of people of other racial groups believe symbols of the Confederacy have racist connotations while many white people, particularly in southern states, maintain they are part of the area’s heritage. The fight for racial justice continues as America celebrates Independence Day on July 4, despite a part of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, written by President Jefferson, that says, “All men are created equal.” 
 
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