Trump Opens U.S. Independence Day Celebration with an Event at Mount Rushmore
U.S. President Donald Trump opened the celebration of Independence Day on Friday with an event on Mount Rushmore, famous for the faces of four former commanders carved on the mountain, in which he defended the country's monuments, when a debate on their meaning and racism has gained strength.
"Mount Rushmore will forever be like an eternal tribute to our ancestors and our freedom," Trump said from a stage decorated with American flags and set against the backdrop of the towering mountain monument.
"This monument will never be profaned. These heroes will never be disfigured. Their legacy will never, ever be destroyed," he said, as attendees cheered him on with applause and choruses of "USA, USA".
In recent days, Trump criticized the removal of statues or Confederate symbols amidst the racial protests that have spread across the country following the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of a white policeman.
"Our nation is witnessing a ruthless campaign to erase our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children," he warned.
The ruler denounced what he called a "cultural revolution of the left" and warned that "it is designed to overthrow the American revolution.
"In doing so, they would destroy the very civilization that rescued billions from poverty, disease, violence and hunger, and brought humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery and progress," the president said, noting that "they are determined to tear down every statue, symbol and reminder of our heritage".
According to the U.S. leader, who will seek re-election on November 3, the goal of the protesters is "to destroy the United States".
"Angry mobs are trying to tear down the statues of our founders, disfigure our most sacred monuments and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities," he complained.
The famous South Dakota hillside where the faces of former presidents George Washington (1789-1797), Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), and Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) are carved is for thousands of Native Americans a sacred place where they carved the faces of their settlers.
And it became the site of a ceremony that takes place as the United States reflects on the racist history of many of the statesmen and generals honored in monuments and statues.
That movement has also shed light on a wound that has been open to Native Americans in the area for more than a century.
Groups of people, including Native Americans, protested today against Trump's arrival and tried to block the road to the mountain with vehicles, but were removed by the police and National Guard in charge of guarding the area, according to images posted on social networks.
The event, which was attended by the first lady, Melania Trump, and in which some 7,500 people were expected, took place without the rules of interpersonal distance recommended by the health authorities.
In addition, few attendees wore masks, a garment that in certain places has begun to be required on account of the resurgence of cases of COVID-19 in the country.
Just this Friday, the United States reached a new daily record of coronavirus infections, adding 60,383 new cases, bringing to 2,793,022 the number of people who have contracted the disease in its territory.
According to the independent count from Johns Hopkins University, 754 new deaths from this cause were counted during the last day, for a total of 129,405 deaths.