Democrats accuse Trump of 'glorifying white supremacy' by holding Fourth of July rally at Mt. Rushmore in since-deleted tweet - as Native Americans slam the controversial monument
The official Twitter page for the Democratic National Committee has quickly taken down a tweet that suggested President Donald Trump's rally at Mt. Rushmore would be 'glorifying white supremacy.'
In the since deleted Tuesday morning tweet, the DNC took Trump to task for the series of grievances he has enacted against indigenous communities in the United States.
'Trump has disrespected Native communities time and again. He’s attempted to limit their voting rights and blocked critical pandemic relief,' they said in the tweet.
In the since deleted Tuesday morning tweet, the DNC took Trump to task for the series of grievances he has enacted against indigenous communities in the United States
They then turned their attention to Trump's July 3rd visit to Mt. Rushmore in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he will host a massive rally that will include a firework display. Many Native American activists and protesters are planning on taking to the controversial monument to protest it and the president's visit.
The DNC added in the tweet: 'Now he’s holding a rally glorifying white supremacy at Mount Rushmore — a region once sacred to tribal communities.'
The DNC had been referencing an article from The Guardian that featured Native American activists who were upset about Trump's upcoming visit.
The tweet was soon deleted but not before being screengrabbed and shared by conservative pundits, who speculated that the monument would be the next to be called out following the removal or statues of American leaders - many of who owned slaves or enacted genocide against indigenous communities.
The tweet was soon deleted but not before being screengrabbed and shared by conservative pundits, who speculated that the monument would be the next to be called out following the removal or statues of American leaders (George Washington statue in Portland is toppled on June 19)
Native American activists have been protesting Mt Rushmore for decades. Protesters in 1970
Most Americans do not know the troubled past of Mt Rushmore, made on land stolen from indigenous communities.
'Mount Rushmore is a symbol of white supremacy, of structural racism that's still alive and well in society today,' said Nick Tilsen, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and the president of a local activist organization called NDN Collective. 'It's an injustice to actively steal Indigenous people's land, then carve the white faces of the colonizers who committed genocide.'
While some activists, like Tilsen, want to see the monument removed and the Black Hills returned to the Lakota, others have called for a share in the economic benefits from the region.
Trump has long shown a fascination with Mount Rushmore. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said in 2018 that he once told her straight-faced that it was his dream to have his face carved into the monument.
He later joked at a campaign rally about getting enshrined alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. And while it was Noem, a Republican, who pushed for a return of fireworks on the eve of Independence Day, Trump committed to visiting South Dakota for the celebration.
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