President Donald Trump greeted the United States on July 4 with comments on Saturday that echoed messages used on Mount Rushmore the night before.
President Donald Trump delivered another deeply divisive speech to commemorate Independence Day on Saturday, comparing the United States’ fight against the Nazis and terrorists with its efforts to defeat the “radical left” in the United States and accusing the Social justice protesters trying to destroy the United States.
“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,” said Trump. “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.”
Based on similar remarks he made at Mount Rushmore on Friday, Trump once again sought to deepen racial and cultural divisions in the United States rather than attempt to unify a country troubled by the twin crises of the coronavirus pandemic and wide recognition of racism in the United States.
Still, Trump, who has a long history of exploiting racial tensions in the United States, punished others for trying to “foster hatred, discord, and mistrust.”
“We will not allow anyone to divide our citizens by race or background. We will not allow them to foster hatred, discord and mistrust, “said Trump.
In his remarks at Mount Rushmore on Friday and at the White House on Saturday, Trump sought to become the protector of American history and heritage, focusing on protecting the legacy of the Founding Fathers and other American historical figures. But Trump has spent the past week focused directly on defending Confederate monuments and namesakes.
“Our past is not a burden to be thrown away,” Trump said at the White House “Salute to America” event in South Lawn. “We will never allow an angry crowd to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children, or trample on our liberties. We will safeguard our values, traditions, customs and beliefs, “said Trump.
Trump stated without evidence during his comments on Saturday that 99% of coronavirus cases “are completely harmless.”
“We have now tested almost 40 million people. In doing so, we show cases, 99% of which are completely harmless, results that no other country can show because no other country has evidence that we have. Not in terms of numbers, or in terms of quality, ”he said, once again falsely claiming that the increasing cases are caused by increased evidence.
There have been more than 2.8 million coronavirus cases in the United States, and at least 129,000 people in the United States have died, according to the latest count by Johns Hopkins University. Some people who get sick have mild symptoms, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 35% of cases are asymptomatic, but even people with mild or no symptoms can transmit the virus. to other people.
While the World Health Organization has said that the global death rate is likely to be less than 1%, the WHO also said that about 20% of all people diagnosed with coronaviruses are sick enough to need oxygen or hospital care.
The White House has not returned CNN’s request for comment on the president’s claim.
Trump spoke more about the coronavirus on Saturday than the night before in South Dakota, but used the mention of the virus to underscore his divisive message. “China must be held accountable” for the virus, he said, and again stated that a vaccine will be available before the end of the year.
Despite an increase in coronavirus cases in the United States, many attendees seen at the White House event were not practicing social distancing or wearing masks before the president’s comments, CNN noted.
The celebration in Washington, DC, did not appear to follow CDC guidelines for meetings despite the White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere telling CNN this week that the White House would impose social distancing.
CNN has asked the White House if guests are being screened or temperature controlled, but has yet to receive a response. The White House stopped temperature controls on everyone who entered the White House grounds weeks ago. Reporters at Saturday’s event have not been tested or received a temperature control.
Admiral Dr. Brett Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, attending the July 4 White House event, declined to comment on the event and the lack of social distancing.
“Good question, but let me see,” said Giroir, deputy secretary of health at the US Department of Health and Human Services, when asked if the White House event was a good example for other Americans. “I reserve judgment.”
He noted, “My wife and I are wearing a mask.”
Trump’s remarks at the White House come a day after he delivered a deeply divisive speech in South Dakota on Friday night aiming to stoke the culture wars in the United States, warning: “Our nation is witnessing a campaign ruthless to erase our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children. “
It was the kind of obscure message that the President often resorted to in recent weeks to incite his most loyal supporters as he tries to ignore a pandemic in the face of shooting coronavirus cases. There was no social distancing at the Mount Rushmore event, especially with chairs on top of the amphitheater tied with bridles. The president mentioned the virus only once in his Friday speech, at the top of his remarks, thanking those who work to combat it.
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Trump’s comments on Saturday contrasted with those of former Vice President Joe Biden, who called on Americans to “commit to finally complying” with America’s founding principle that “all men are created equal.”
“Now we have the opportunity to give the marginalized, the demonized, the isolated, and the oppressed a full part of the American dream,” Biden says in the video. “We have the opportunity to uproot the roots of systemic racism in this country.”
Biden later tweeted that “one of the most patriotic things you can do is wear a mask” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden’s campaign on Saturday also responded to Trump’s speech at Mount Rushmore by saying that the United States is “suffering” as a result of having a “divisive” president who doesn’t “care about anything but his own benefit.”
“Our entire country is suffering the excruciating costs of having a negligent and divisive president who cares about nothing but his own benefit: not the sick, or the unemployed, or our constitution, or our endangered troops. “Campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a Trump statement.” Even as the outbreak intensifies, he admitted to ordering that the response to federal tests be diluted. “
This story has been updated with additional developments.
