Trump casts himself as saviour of blighted US
President announces plan to create park celebrating US heroes in combative Mount Rushmore speech
DONALD TRUMP offered up a dystopian image of America under siege from “far-Left fascism” and “evil people” at an Independence Day celebration where he announced the creation of a new park to be filled with monuments of US heroes.
Speaking below the huge stone faces of four past presidents at Mount Rushmore, Mr Trump portrayed the country as locked in a battle for the values it was founded on, with a new “cancel culture” putting even the nation’s children at risk. The US president framed the recent wave of anti-racism protests, which have targeted statues linked to slavery and at times seen violent clashes and looting, as a malevolent force, while casting himself as the defender of America’s heritage.
“As we meet here tonight, there is a growing danger that threatens every blessing our ancestors fought so hard for, struggled, they bled to secure,” Mr Trump said to a crowd thousands strong in South Dakota on Friday night.
“Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children. Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our founders, deface our most sacred memorials and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities.”
The speech was one of the bleakest portrayals of the state of US society given by Mr Trump since his January 2017 inauguration day address, where he vowed to stop the “American carnage” playing out across the country.
It suggested that, trailing badly in the opinion polls behind his Democratic rival Joe Biden, Mr Trump sees a possible path to victory in the November election by forcing the spotlight on the so-called culture wars.
Mr Trump was speaking on the evening before July 4 – a US public holiday celebrating the country’s independence from Britain – in front of the cliff face carved with the images of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. It was delivered before a crowd of thousands, few of whom wore face masks as they chanted “USA! USA!” and booed when Mr Trump outlined the threats facing America.
In one stark passage from his speech, Mr Trump said: “This attack on our liberty, our magnificent liberty, must be stopped and it will be stopped very quickly. In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-Left fascism that demands absolute allegiance.
“If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted and punished. It’s not going to happen to us.”
At another point, he said: “Here tonight before the eyes of our forefathers, Americans declare again, as we did 244 years ago, that we will not be tyrannised, we will not be demeaned, and we will not be intimidated by bad, evil people.”
Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Mr Biden, said of the speech: “Donald Trump is seeking to aggrandise himself and divide our nation at yet another rally.
“Joe Biden believes the presidency is about serving the American people – whereas Donald Trump only exploits it to serve himself.”
‘Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, erase our values’