Democrat Party Accuses Trump of Holding ‘White Supremacy’ Rally at Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, South Dakota, on April 23, 2020. Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images

The Democrat Party said in a statement that President Donald Trump was holding a “white supremacy” rally at Mount Rushmore in July.

“Trump has disrespected Native communities time and again,” the official Democratic National Committee (DNC) Twitter account said late Monday.

“He’s attempted to limit their voting rights and blocked critical pandemic relief. Now he’s holding a rally glorifying white supremacy at Mount Rushmore—a region once sacred to tribal communities.”

The account linked to a story from a British newspaper that included a wire agency interview with one Native American activist, Nick Tilsen of the Oglala Lakota Tribe.

“It’s an injustice to actively steal indigenous people’s land then carve the white faces of the conquerors who committed genocide,“ Tilsen was quoted as saying. He also called the national monument itself ”a symbol of white supremacy.”

After backlash, the DNC deleted the tweet.

The committee didn’t respond to a request for clarification about its views on the national memorial.

Ken Farnaso, deputy national press secretary for Trump’s reelection campaign, said in a statement to The Epoch Times: “It’s a sad day when Americans have to defend the Founding Fathers and historical figures from the Democrat Party led by Joe Biden who believe that Mount Rushmore and 4th of July celebrations ‘glorify white supremacy.’”

In this Sept. 11, 2002, file photo, the sun rises on Mt. Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone, S.D. as the flag is flown at half staff in honor of the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. Laura Rauch/AP Photo

Donald Trump Jr., Trump’s son, added in a social media statement: “Seems this answers the question as to where Dems stand on the destruction of our monuments. If there was any doubt, at least they cleared that up for us.”

Vandals across the nation have torn down or tried to take down a slew of statues and defaced monuments.

Few Democrats have criticized the mobs. Many Republicans have.

Mount Rushmore has been the subject of calls for destruction, a South Dakota government official told The Epoch Times.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, said last week that the monument could be targeted, citing “some activity online where people have made threats to that.”

Trump is planning to attend a fireworks show on July 3 at Mount Rushmore.

The national memorial, completed in 1941, shows the faces of former U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

Almost three million visitors visit Mount Rushmore each year, according to the National Park Service.

“They come to marvel at the majestic beauty of the Black Hills of South Dakota and to learn about the birth, growth, development, and the preservation of our country,” the service says on its website. “Over the decades, Mount Rushmore has grown in fame as a symbol of America—a symbol of freedom and hope for people from all cultures and backgrounds.”