President Donald Trump continued his crusade against protesters attacking statues and national monuments in a fiery Fourth of July speech comparing the ‘radical left’ to the Nazis and terrorists.
Speaking from the South Lawn of the White House on Saturday, Trump criticized “the radical left” and members of the media, whom he accused of slandering the legacy of the war heroes.
“American heroes defeated the Nazis, dethroned the fascists, overthrew the communists, saved American values, defended American principles, and persecuted terrorists to the ends of the earth,” he said.
“We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and the people who in many cases have no idea what they are doing.”
President Donald Trump speaks during the ‘Salute to America’ event at the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, July 4, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo / Patrick Semansky)
Trump did not hesitate to use the country’s birthday as an occasion to attack segments of the country that do not support him.
Continuing on a theme that struck a day earlier in the context of the Mount Rushmore monuments, it haunted those who downed statues or think that some of them, particularly those of Confederate figures, should be removed.
Support has been growing among Republicans to remove Confederate monuments.
“Our past is not a burden to discard,” Trump said.
He vowed never to allow ‘an angry crowd’ to knock down statues, ‘erase our history, indoctrinate our children, or trample on our freedom.’
In a message to members of the media, Trump accused them of “slandering” the American people by labeling their “opponents” as racist.
“ When you level out these false accusations, you not only slander me, you not only slander the American people, but you slander generations of heroes who gave their lives for the United States.
You slander people much braver and with more principles than you. You are slandering the youth who raised the flag on Iwo Jima and those who perished fighting for freedom in the Civil War.
‘You are dishonoring their great legacy and memory by insisting that they fought for racism, they fought for oppression. They fought for the exact opposite.
“We will not let the legacy of these people be slandered by you.”
Trump’s July 4 event follows a speech on Friday night at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, where he accused the “angry mobs” of trying to erase history and used the speech to paint himself as a bulwark against left extremism.
Members of the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team display an American flag as they land on the Ellipse near the White House on July 4.
Paratroopers from the US Army Golden Knights Parachute Team perform over the White House
People wait for the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and First Lady Melania Trump during the 2020 Salute to America at the White House
In stark words, he accused protesters who have lobbied for racial justice of participating in a “ruthless campaign to end our history.”
Even as he moved forward with the celebrations, he made little mention of the pandemic that has affected his hopes for reelection, even as COVID-19 moved more into Trump’s inner circle.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, one of the main fundraisers for the president and girlfriend of her oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., tested positive for the virus, the Trump campaign said Friday night.
Guilfoyle tweeted Saturday that he expected “a speedy recovery.”
In a presidential message Saturday morning on the 244th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Trump acknowledged that “in recent months, the American spirit has certainly been tested by many challenges.”
His Democratic rival, Joe Biden, said in a statement that the United States “never lived up to its founding principle that” all men are created equal, “but today” we have the opportunity to pluck the roots of systemic racism from this country. . ”
Trump’s endorsement of the big gatherings on the National Mall and in Mount Rushmore came when many communities decided to scrap fireworks, parades, and other Christmas traditions in hopes of avoiding even more waves of infection.
Joe Biden, Trump’s Democratic rival in the November elections, made a contrasting note with the Republican president and accused him in a July 4 opinion piece of finding every day “new ways to tarnish and dismantle our democracy.”
“Now we have an opportunity to give the marginalized, the demonized, the isolated, the oppressed, a full part of the American dream,” Biden said in a separate letter to donors.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser tried to dissuade the Trump administration from holding fireworks over the National Mall and informed the Department of the Interior that it was against the guidance of health officials amid the pandemic.
United States President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump take the stage on the South Lawn of the White House with the Jefferson Memorial and a small crowd of supporters on the Ellipse in the background as they celebrate the July 4 ‘2020 Salute to America’ to celebrate the United States Independence Day Holiday at the White House in Washington, United States, July 4, 2020. REUTERS / Carlos Barria
In addition to fireworks viewers, activists from different stripes also seemed willing to ignore the health warnings.
Roar of the Deplorables, a group of motorcyclists, said via social media that they, too, planned to meet in Washington on Saturday to protest what they call ‘the anti-Trump regime’ and celebrate the nation’s birthday.
Freedom Fighters DC, a new activist group that seeks to bring together an ethnically diverse generation of supporters of freedom for all people, especially the black population of Washington, is one of the anti-racist groups that ignores the mayor’s attention for refraining from meeting.
“Blacks are not free from the shackles of oppression, so we can’t really celebrate Independence Day,” said Kerrigan Williams, 22, one of the founders of the group, which will organize a march and an artistic rally. Saturday. late.
“We are marching today to show that blacks are still fighting for the simple freedoms that the constitution is said to provide.
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