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Trump tries to drag America backward on a very different July 4th
Jul 04, 2020 2 mins, 50 secs
In a jaw-dropping speech that amounted to culture war bonfire, President Donald Trump used the backdrop of Mount Rushmore Friday night to frame protesters as a nefarious left-wing mob that intends to "end America." Those opponents, he argued, are engaged in a "merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children."

On Saturday in the nation's capital, the Trump administration has planned July 4 celebrations that ignore Washington, DC, Muriel Bowser's concerns about public health guidelines, although at least there'll be some of the social distancing measures at the White House that were ignored in South Dakota, where the President largely acted as if the coronavirus didn't exist.

Instead, when Trump spoke on Friday night of a "growing danger," he was talking about an entirely different threat than rising coronavirus cases.

He referred to a threat to America's "heritage" -- rhetoric intended to rev up his base at a time when many Americans are attempting to relearn the nation's history with greater attention to the wrongs inflicted on Black and Native American people.

Repeatedly using vague pronouns like "they" and "them," Trump sought to play on the fears of a minority -- that appears to be shrinking, according to polls -- who view the rise of Black Lives Matter as a threat to the historical dominance of White people.

He described the goals of protesters who are attempting to right the wrongs of history as "alien to our culture, and to our values."

View Trump and Biden head-to-head polling

One of "their political weapons," he said, is "cancel culture," which would drive people from their jobs, shame dissenters and "demand total submission" from anyone who disagrees.

"We will expose this dangerous movement, protect our nation's children, end this radical assault and preserve our beloved American way of life," Trump said.

This left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution."

"To make this possible, they are determined to tear down every statue, symbol and memory of our national heritage," he said.

A pandemic all but forgotten

It was spectacle that unfolded before thousands of people, most without masks, who were seated close together in bleacher seats and on black folding chairs that were zip-tied together because of a local fire code, making physical distancing impossible.

South Dakota Gov.

Kristi Noem, a Republican and close Trump ally, set the tone earlier this week during an appearance on Fox News where she said there would be no social distancing as spectators gathered to celebrate freedom.

Like Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last month -- where at least eight Trump campaign staffers came down with the coronavirus and dozens of Secret Service agents were forced to quarantine -- the South Dakota event ignored many of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for large gatherings.

Before she was set to attend the South Dakota event, Kimberly Guilfoyle -- the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr.

Protecting statues

Just like he does on his Twitter feed, which is dominated by dismay over the toppling of statues of racist figures from America's past, Trump minimized the dangers of the pandemic Friday night in South Dakota, expressing more concern for the safety of statues than of the American people.

"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," Trump said.

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