Trump repeats his vote to defeat the ‘radical left’ in the Fourth of July speech

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – United States President Donald Trump promised on Saturday to defeat the “radical left” in a speech on Independence Day at the White House that condemned recent protests against monuments to historical figures as attempts to destroy America.

Trump stated without evidence that 99% of the coronavirus cases in the United States were “totally harmless.” In fact, many states marked a record number of new COVID-19 cases. In Texas alone, 7,890 patients were hospitalized after 238 new admissions in the past 24 hours.

Trump, who has faced criticism for his handling of the pandemic, said China must be “responsible” for not containing the disease.

The administration put on a fireworks display over the National Mall when it fell the night after Trump’s speech, despite warnings from Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser that the mass spectator event would challenge the guidance of health officials during the pandemic.

A few steps from where Trump spoke, peaceful protesters marched through blocked streets around the White House, Black Lives Matter Plaza, and the Lincoln Memorial. They were confronted by counter-protesters shouting: “United States! UNITED STATES! “But there were no reports of violence.

Millions of Americans have protested police brutality and racial inequality since the May 25 murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. In addition to achieving police reforms in some cities, some protesters have removed Confederate statues and other symbols of America’s legacy of slavery.

“There have always been those who seek to lie about the past to gain power in the present, who lie about our history, who want us to be ashamed of who we are,” Trump said Saturday. “Their goal is demolition.”

Trump’s July 4 comments were duplicated in his speech the night before at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, where he accused the “angry mobs” of trying to erase history and painted himself as a bulwark against left extremism.

Just a few months before the November presidential election, opinion polls in key states show that Trump follows his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden wrote a July 4 opinion piece that made a contrasting note with the Republican president and accused him of finding “new ways to tarnish and dismantle our democracy” every day.

In a separate letter to donors, Biden said, “We now have an opportunity to give the marginalized, the demonized, the isolated, the oppressed, a full part of the American dream.”

Trump, in his speech, also said the United States would have a vaccine or therapeutic solution for the virus “long before” the end of 2020. Such success could help the US economy and Trump’s chances for reelection.

On Thursday, a senior US health official said he was optimistic that the Trump administration’s vaccine acceleration program “Operation Warp Speed” will generate a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 by the end of the year.

In addition to fireworks viewers in Washington, activists from different stripes also seemed willing to ignore the health warnings.

Roar of the Deplorables, a group of cyclists, said via social media that they planned to meet to protest against what they call “the anti-Trump regime” and celebrate the nation’s birthday.

Freedom Fighters DC, a new activist group seeking to rally ethnically diverse supporters, especially Washington’s black population, is one of the anti-racism 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 liberties that the constitution is said to provide.”