Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the former speaker of the House of Representatives, suggested during an interview over the weekend that President Joe Biden should be added to Mount Rushmore.
Pelosi made the remarks during an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Sunday Morning&#8221; where she discussed a wide range of issues.
The clip comes after the failed president was forced drop out of the presidential race against former President Donald Trump because his poll numbers plummeted after he showed serious signs of cognitive impairment during June&#8217;s presidential debate.
&#8220;So he was in a good place to make whatever decision, at the top of his game,&#8221; Pelosi said about Biden&#8217;s decision to drop out of the race.
&#8220;Such a consequential president of the United States, a Mount Rushmore kind of president of the United States,&#8221; she continued.
<a href="http://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1722896810585000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1bp5Dbk3uCC7C3EVDakzNV">WATCH THE TRAILER FOR &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI</a>
Left-wing journalist Leslie Stahl was surprised by Pelosi&#8217;s comment and had to check if Pelosi was serious about what she had said.
&#8220;Lincoln and Joe Biden?&#8221; Stahl asked.
&#8220;But you&#8217;ve got Teddy Roosevelt up there and he&#8217;s wonderful,&#8221; Pelosi said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t say take him down, but you can add Biden.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
WATCH: Nancy Pelosi just proposed that “such a consequential President” as Joe Biden should be added to Mt. Rushmore! <a href="https://t.co/jXUz5T71KG">pic.twitter.com/jXUz5T71KG</a>
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TVNewsNow/status/1820149800861380814?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2024</a></blockquote>

Pelosi

Pelosi Suggests Adding Biden To Mount Rushmore

Media

Mount Rushmore

Nancy Pelosi

Target donated funds to a group that has called for closing down Mount Rushmore because it is “an international symbol of white supremacy,” according to a new report
Target gave money to the NDN Collective in 2022, a South Dakota-based nonprofit that has <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/target-backs-org-pushing-us-demilitarization-mt-rushmore-shutdown-being-symbol-white-supremacy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> that closing Mount Rushmore, and returning the land and all public lands in the Black Hills of South Dakota is “our cornerstone battle,” Fox News reported.
“Not only does Mount Rushmore sit in the heart of the sacred Black Hills, but it is an international symbol of White Supremacy and colonization,” NDN stated. “To truly dismantle white supremacy and systems of oppression, we have to go back to the roots. Which, for us, is putting Indigenous Lands back in Indigenous hands.”
“Mount Rushmore is an international symbol of white supremacy, and as people across America rightfully pull down statues of white supremacy, we have to look long and hard at how this national monument in the Black Hills upholds and maintains white supremacy on Indigenous lands,” NDN Collective President and CEO Nick Tilsen stated in a <a href="https://ndncollective.org/ndn-collective-landback-campaign-launching-on-indigenous-peoples-day-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>.
“Our LANDBACK efforts started at Mount Rushmore as we not only took a stand against white supremacy and Trump&#8217;s racist rhetoric that day, but also in demanding that Mount Rushmore be shut down as a national monument and that all public lands in the Black Hills be returned to Indigenous people,” he continued.
NDN Collective’s “Landback” campaign has declared, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free,” a mantra that terrorist organizations that hate Israel use to describe the elimination of the Jews in Israel.
“The U.S. military is in the explicit business of taking land away from communities all around the world and using their presence on their land to carry out their own agenda for the inhabitants of that area,” NDN Collective has stated. “Violence is fundamental for the U.S. to maintain its presence, and the military is how they establish dominance domestically and internationally, wherever they may be.”
“The origin of the U.S. military and police is rooted in the establishment of informal militias composed of newly arrived settlers looking to make money and own land,” NDN continued. “The purpose of these informal militias however was not to keep the police or protect citizens, but to clear the land of as many Natives as possible by killing indiscriminately, and catching runaway enslaved Africans.”

Collage Maker-06-Jun-2023-07-14-AM-4511

Target Donated Funds To Group Calling To Close Mount Rushmore: Report

Target

White Supremacy

House Republicans are proposing legislation to protect <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mount-rushmore" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mount Rushmore</a> from being renamed or destroyed.
The bill comes as Native Americans and others have <a href="https://www.history.com/news/mount-rushmore-native-american-protests#:~:text=Among%20the%20most%20notable%20in,desecration%20of%20a%20spiritual%20site." target="_blank" rel="noopener">protested</a> the national memorial, located in South Dakota, which features sculptures of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt carved into a mountain in the Black Hills.
Introduced Tuesday by Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD), the bill would require no federal funds be used to make any alterations or remove any feature of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Nine Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/386/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22%22%5D%7D&amp;r=12&amp;s=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Congress.gov</a>. No Democrats are listed as co-sponsors.
&#8220;Our nation’s history is not without its flaws, but there is no doubt the faces on Mount Rushmore represent democracy, freedom and the great American experiment,&#8221; Johnson said, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-moves-protect-mount-rushmore-activists-rename-tear-down" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Fox News</a>. &#8220;Removing or changing Mount Rushmore will not change the past and will not move us forward as a country. We must protect Mount Rushmore for generations to come.&#8221;
Johnson <a href="https://dustyjohnson.house.gov/media/press-releases/johnson-introduces-mount-rushmore-protection-act-amid-calls-retire-mount" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously introduced</a> the &#8220;Mount Rushmore Protection Act&#8221; in 2022 in response to former NBA player Jalen Rose’s call to “retire” the monument. At the time, Rose <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/espns-jalen-rose-slams-mount-rushmore-stop-using-it-to-measure-greatness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said Mount Rushmore</a> &#8220;should be offensive to all of us, especially Native Americans and indigenous people, who were the first people here before Christopher Columbus. That land was stolen from them.”
Native American leaders have criticized Mount Rushmore as a symbol of &#8220;white supremacy&#8221; and &#8220;structural racism.&#8221; They have also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/south-dakota-tribal-leader-on-mt-rushmore-remove-it-but-dont-blow-it-up-less-environmental-damage-that-way" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called for its removal</a>. Suggestions of going as far as to blow up the monument prompted Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) in 2020 to say, &#8220;Not on my watch.&#8221;
Noem announced last week the Biden administration <a href="https://twitter.com/KristiNoem/status/1613657185069989890" target="_blank" rel="noopener">again rejected her request</a> for a permit to have a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore for Independence Day. Former President Donald Trump delivered a speech at Mount Rushmore on July 3, 2020, the last time fireworks were permitted at the site. Trump said last week fireworks at the monument would make a return if he is reelected president.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
President Trump gave us the Freedom to celebrate Independence Day with fireworks at Mount Rushmore.
Let’s bring it back in 2025! And we’ll keep pushing Biden to do the right thing until then. <a href="https://t.co/LeKxHau2XT">pic.twitter.com/LeKxHau2XT</a>
&mdash; Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) <a href="https://twitter.com/KristiNoem/status/1613916693373255683?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;President Trump gave us the Freedom to celebrate Independence Day with fireworks at Mount Rushmore,&#8221; Noem said in response. &#8220;Let’s bring it back in 2025! And we’ll keep pushing Biden to do the right thing until then.&#8221;

House Bill Aims To Prevent Destruction Of Mount Rushmore

Congress

U.S.

U.S. House of Representatives

ESPN analyst Jalen Rose, who said in June 2021 that Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers only made Team USA’s roster for the Olympics because he was white, has now aimed for bigger game, insisting that people stop using Mount Rushmore as a term indicating greatness.
Mount Rushmore, located in South Dakota, famously features sculptures of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
“I want to continue to challenge myself and challenge you to do something. Can we retire using Mount Rushmore?” Rose asked. “That should be offensive to all of us, especially Native Americans and indigenous people, who were the first people here before Christopher Columbus. That land was stolen from them.”
Rose then put on his history cap, which didn’t fit well: “When it was discovered that it contained gold, and 25 years later, to add insult to injury, four American presidents were put on what we call Mount Rushmore on the top of the dead bodies that is buried right underneath.”
“So I call for you and myself — I’m owning this, too — let’s stop using the term Mount Rushmore when we talk about our favorite rappers, talking about our favorite movies, we talkin’ about our favorite players. I know you gonna see this video, and I know you gonna take action,” he declared.
Rose, who played 13 years in the NBA, later <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2GB-O3aDIQ">confessed</a> he had deliberately tried to injure Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant during Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals, purposely slipping one of his feet under Bryant while he was in the air. Bryant landed and suffered a sprained ankle.
In 2021, on Rose’s show “Jalen and Jacoby,” Rose <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trae-young-goes-off-in-game-1/id730254722?i=1000526756543">said</a>, “Kevin Love is on the team because of tokenism. Don’t be scared to make an all-black team representing the United States of America. I’m disappointed by that.”
“Anybody that watched the league this year knows Kevin Love did not have a stellar season, was not the best player on his team, and did not necessarily deserve to be on this squad,” he continued,
The 2016 U.S. Olympics basketball team was an all-black roster.
Rose later insisted, “If I feel like Kevin Love should make the team or not, I’m entitled to my opinion,” Rose <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/jalen-rose-apologizes-tokenism-kevin-love-olympics">said</a>. “You don’t have to like my opinion, you don’t have to like me. There’s a lot of people trying to assassinate my character or whatever, but those people, some of them, have been doing to for like 30 years … that’s how it is when you have the nerve in a lot of peoples’ estimation to be outspoken.”
“But you know why I’m apologizing right now? To the game. Because I’m what the game made me,” he continued. “I was raised by the all-time greats and you know what I would never want to do? Disappoint Jeanie Rose or disappoint the all-time greats that raised me.”
“Not that I believe that you deserve to make the team,” he referenced Love. “I’m pretty sure when you got the call too you were like ‘Word?! I’m on the squad.’ I know how this works ya’ll. He looked down at his phone and was like, ‘Yo, they want me? They’re gonna ignore these Cleveland Cav lost tape years?’”

Brooklyn Nets v Memphis Grizzlies

ESPN’s Jalen Rose Slams Mount Rushmore: Stop Using It To Measure Greatness

ESPN

South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem blasted the Biden administration on Tuesday after her state received a letter denying its request for Mount Rushmore Independence Day fireworks for the second year in a row.
The denial letter from the National Park Service (NPS) was sent to the South Dakota Department of Tourism regarding its permit application for the state&#8217;s 2022 Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration.
“Mount Rushmore is the best place in America to celebrate our nation’s birthday – I just wish President Biden could see that,” Noem said in a <a href="https://news.sd.gov/newsitem.aspx?id=30000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “Last year, the President hypocritically held a fireworks celebration in Washington, D.C., while denying us our own event. This year, it looks like they are planning to do the same.&#8221;
Noem added in the statement that she plans to move forward with legal actions to change the decision.
“NPS announced this denial less than 24 hours after we reminded the court that this year’s permit application was still pending,” Noem said. “Many of the reasons presented for their denial have been previously addressed, indicating that these reasons are not in good faith. We will move forward with our litigation and urge the court to help us come to a speedy resolution.”
The letter noted multiple reasons behind its rejection.
&#8220;After careful consideration, the NPS has determined that we are unable to grant your request for this permit to hold a special event with fireworks at the Memorial,&#8221; the <a href="https://governor.sd.gov/doc/2022_MountRushmore_FireworksDenial.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> stated.
&#8220;Based on the information provided in the application, we have determined that multiple such criteria are present for the requested event, each of which would be independently sufficient to deny the request for a permit,&#8221; it added.
The two main objections included concerns with wildfires and objections from Native American tribes. The Biden administration&#8217;s letter also noted that the fireworks would pose &#8220;threats to the environment and Memorial resources.&#8221;
The denial marked the second consecutive year the Biden administration has shut down the patriotic fireworks event.
The event was last held in 2020 with then-President Donald Trump attending.
When Trump attended the previous event, Democrats claimed, &#8220;Trump has disrespected Native communities time and time again.&#8221; A now-deleted Twitter post from June 2020 also suggested &#8220;he&#8217;s holding a rally glorifying white supremacy at Mount Rushmore.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Democrats think Mt Rushmore is a display of white supremacy. 
There’s no saving this country if Biden gets elected. 
(They deleted their tweet.) <a href="https://t.co/hm6r11IjRR">pic.twitter.com/hm6r11IjRR</a>
&mdash; Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1277798547069386752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Noem&#8217;s office told Fox News that under the governor&#8217;s leadership, the fireworks celebration in 2020 was returned to Mount Rushmore after being canceled for more than a decade,&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/national-park-service-denies-south-dakota-mount-rushmore-independence-day-fireworks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> a Fox News report.
&#8220;The 2020 celebration incorporated NPS&#8217; regular programming that was referenced in the letter,&#8221; Noem&#8217;s office said in the report.
Noem also took to Twitter to share her frustrations over the denial.
&#8220;Once again, President Biden has denied our request to celebrate our nation’s independence at Mount Rushmore. At a time when our nation is so divided, you’d think Biden would want to unite Americans. Instead, he plays politics,&#8221; she wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Once again, President Biden has denied our request to celebrate our nation’s independence at Mount Rushmore.
At a time when our nation is so divided, you’d think Biden would want to unite Americans.
Instead, he plays politics.<a href="https://t.co/KVEFqXPlpq">https://t.co/KVEFqXPlpq</a>
&mdash; Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) <a href="https://twitter.com/KristiNoem/status/1503801065292152838?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Governor Kristi Noem Blasts Biden Admin For Denying Mount Rushmore Fireworks Permit

Biden Administration

Kristi Noem

On Wednesday, a federal judge rejected an attempt by Republican Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem to have a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore in order to commemorate Independence Day.
As <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/556566-judge-rebuffs-gov-kristi-noems-bid-for-july-4th-fireworks-at-mount?rl=1">reported</a> by The Hill, U.S. District Judge Roberto Lange decided not to enter a preliminary judgment in Noem’s favor, discovering that her suit against government officials was unlikely to be successful.
Lange, a nominee from the Obama administration, wrote, “This Court fully understands the State&#8217;s position and why this suit was brought […] But under governing law, the State is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its claims and has not met the requirements” for interim legal relief, per the outlet.
“Specifically, he determined that the denial was not ‘arbitrary and capricious’ as the state contended because he said reasons given for the denial were not irrational or particularly implausible,” the outlet noted.
He also added that while the government needed to give a reason for its shift in opinion between the two events (last July 4th vs. this July 4th), authorities did acknowledge the previous event and stated how issues related to it affected their decision.
Lange also reportedly stated that if the circumstances had been reversed, and a group was trying to stop a permit put forward by the National Park Service (NPS) for a similar display, “this Court almost certainly would have denied a preliminary injunction to any group seeking to prohibit such a display from occurring.”
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gov-kristi-noem-pushes-back-against-biden-administration-asks-president-to-allow-fireworks-at-mount-rushmore">reported</a>, Noem sent a letter to the Biden administration in April requesting permission to hold the celebration.
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-mount-rushmore-fireworks-ban-south-dakota-noem">Fox News</a> reported that the federal government agreed to allow fireworks to be held at the area last year, but the decision of the Biden administration would reverse that. Noem’s letter referenced a Memorandum of Agreement that had been made with the state to allow fireworks to return to celebrations at Mount Rushmore National Memorial “in a safe and responsible manner.” However, as Noem’s letter explains, the National Park Service (NPS) told the governor that it “would be reneging” on the Memorandum of Agreement, citing several concerns.
Noem went on to discuss Biden’s own declarations regarding Fourth of July celebrations, telling him that the letter from NPS “contradicts statements you made in March that held up Independence Day as a target date for Americans to begin returning to normal.”
Noem later sued the Biden administration for canceling the July 4th activities at Mount Rushmore, as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gov-kristi-noem-sues-biden-admin-for-canceling-july-4-fireworks-at-mount-rushmore-because-of-covid-19-tribal-objections">reported</a> by The Daily Wire.
The Daily Wire noted that Noem filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota Central Division and “described the Department of the Interior’s refusal to grant a permit for fireworks at the national park as a departure ‘from longstanding precedent,’ and accused the administration of reneging on an agreement ‘without any meaningful explanation,’ according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/noem-biden-mount-rushmore-fireworks-lawsuit-south-dakota">Fox News</a>.&#8221;
“Noem asked the court ‘to enjoin the Department of Interior’s (DOI) denial of the fireworks permit and order it to issue a permit for the event expeditiously,’” The Daily Wire added.
In a <a href="https://twitter.com/govkristinoem/status/1400197154304561156">statement</a>, Noem said Wednesday that she would appeal the judge’s most recent decision.
“The Biden Administration cancelled South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration on completely arbitrary grounds. I am disappointed that the court gave cover to this unlawful action with today’s decision. But rest assured, this fight is not over,&#8221; Noem said.
&#8220;My legal team will appeal this incorrect decision so that we can return the Fireworks Celebration to Mount Rushmore and celebrate our nation’s birthday at America’s Shrine to Democracy for next year and in the future,” she added.
https://twitter.com/govkristinoem/status/1400197154304561156

FC12C91E-04CD-441C-A31B-CC964548DD17_1_201_a

Judge Rejects Bid To Hold Fireworks At Mount Rushmore

4th of July

Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is suing the Biden administration for canceling the Independence Day festivities at Mount Rushmore this July because of COVID-19 and objections from the park&#8217;s tribal partners.
Noem, who filed the lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota Central Division, described the Department of the Interior&#8217;s refusal to grant a permit for fireworks at the national park as a departure &#8220;from longstanding precedent,&#8221; and accused the administration of reneging on an agreement &#8220;without any meaningful explanation,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/noem-biden-mount-rushmore-fireworks-lawsuit-south-dakota" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fox News</a>.
&#8220;Mount Rushmore is the very best place to celebrate America’s birthday and all that makes our country special,&#8221; wrote Noem. &#8220;After telling us they’d ‘circle back,’ the Biden Administration has not responded to our request to uphold the Memorandum Agreement between the State of South Dakota and the National Parks Service to host a safe and responsible national celebration and fireworks show.&#8221;
Noem asked the court &#8220;to enjoin the Department of Interior’s (DOI) denial of the fireworks permit and order it to issue a permit for the event expeditiously.&#8221;
National Park Service (NPS) Regional Director Herbert Frost wrote to South Dakota’s tourism office last month explaining why the federal agency was refusing a request from the state to permit July 4 celebrations at the iconic site. &#8220;Potential risks to the park itself and to the health and safety of employees and visitors associated with the fireworks demonstration continue to be a concern and are still being evaluated as a result of the 2020 event,&#8221; Frost wrote.
&#8220;In addition, the park’s many tribal partners expressly oppose fireworks at the Memorial,&#8221; Frost added in the letter, which was first reported by The Hill.
During a speech at Mount Rushmore last July 4 that was followed by a spectacular fireworks display, former President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-at-mount-rushmore-left-wing-cultural-revolution-is-designed-to-overthrow-the-american-revolution" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">extolled</a> American ideals and warned against a &#8220;left-wing cultural revolution&#8221; that intends &#8220;to overthrow the American Revolution.&#8221;
President Joe Biden has presented the permission to congregate on Independence Day for small celebrations as a carrot to persuade Americans to get vaccinated. Last week, he threatened to rescind the offer if not enough Americans obey his advice. As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-threatens-to-cancel-july-4th-if-americans-refuse-to-get-coronavirus-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>:
<blockquote>President Joe Biden warned [on April 20] that Americans may have to cancel the “small” Independence Day parties he suggested they have back in March to celebrate the end of the COVID-19 pandemic if they continue to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine.
Back in March, Biden announced, in a planned speech from the White House on the anniversary of the COVID-19 shutdowns, that Americans may be able to have small gatherings “in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day,” if COVID-19 numbers had sufficiently declined.
[&#8230;]
“Back on March 11, I outlined a vision of what America could look like by the Fourth of July — an America that was much closer to normal life that we left behind more than a year ago,” Biden said.  “To celebrate our independence from this virus on July 4th with family and friends in small groups, we still have more to do in the months of May and June. We all need to mask up until the number of cases goes down, until everyone has a chance to get their shot.”</blockquote>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gov-kristi-noem-hits-back-at-joy-reid-for-calling-mount-rushmore-stone-idol-to-presidential-colonizers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gov. Kristi Noem Hits Back At Joy Reid For Calling Mount Rushmore ‘Stone Idol To Presidential Colonizers’</a>

A US flag flies as fireworks explode above the Mount Rushmore National Monument during an Independence Day event attended by the US president in Keystone, South Dakota, July 3, 2020

Gov. Kristi Noem Sues Biden Admin For Canceling July 4 Fireworks At Mount Rushmore Because Of COVID-19, Tribal Objections

COVID

COVID-19 Vaccine

South Dakota

On Tuesday, Republican Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem sent a <a href="https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2021/04/Gov-Noem-to-President-Biden-Fireworks-4-13-21.pdf">letter</a> to President Biden requesting that he alter his administration&#8217;s current prohibition of a fireworks celebration on Independence Day at Mount Rushmore.
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-mount-rushmore-fireworks-ban-south-dakota-noem">Fox News</a> reported that the federal government agreed to allow fireworks to be held at the area last year, but the decision of the Biden administration would reverse that. Noem&#8217;s letter referenced a Memorandum of Agreement that had been made with the state to allow fireworks to return to celebrations at Mount Rushmore National Memorial &#8220;in a safe and responsible manner.&#8221; However, as Noem&#8217;s letter explains, the National Park Service (NPS) told the governor last month that it &#8220;would be reneging&#8221; on the Memorandum of Agreement, citing several concerns.
Noem went on to discuss Biden&#8217;s own declarations regarding Fourth of July celebrations, telling him that the letter from NPS &#8220;contradicts statements you made in March that held up Independence Day as a target date for Americans to begin returning to normal.&#8221;
Noem quoted Biden when he announced:
<blockquote>&#8220;[B]y July the 4th, there&#8217;s a good chance you, your families, and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout and a barbeque and celebrate Independence Day. &#8230;After this long hard year, that will make this Independence Day something truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus.&#8221;</blockquote>
Noem&#8217;s letter stated that NPS listed certain safety concerns centering around the COVID-19 pandemic for visitors and workers if fireworks were permitted this year. However, Noem explained that no cases of COVID-19 were linked to last year&#8217;s event after they had more than 7,000 people attend. She also pointed to vaccination efforts, saying that over 50% of South Dakotans have gotten at least their first shot of a vaccine.
“We believe this was part of the inspiration for your optimistic statements,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;Given the progress we are making as a nation, wouldn&#8217;t canceling an event that months in advance due to COVID concerns fail to recognize both the science and the evidence?&#8221;
The governor also addressed concerns that NPS cited over tribal issues or environmental dangers. Noem stated that tribes were consulted prior to last year&#8217;s event and &#8220;South Dakota&#8217;s Department of Tribal Relations was involved in every step of the process,&#8221; adding that tribal leaders would be consulted this year and invited to the celebration. She also acknowledged that environmental factors are taken into account during the planning process, and in 2002 the event was not held because of environmental conditions. She pointed out that last year, NPS put out a Finding of No Significant Impact that stated &#8220;the event would not harm the natural environment of the Black Hills.&#8221;
Noem also took to Twitter to voice her request. She tweeted a picture of Mount Rushmore during a fireworks celebration and quoted President Biden with the caption, &#8220;What better way to celebrate America&#8217;s birthday and our &#8216;Independence from this virus&#8217;?&#8221;
https://twitter.com/govkristinoem/status/1382001447995371522
Noem concluded her letter, writing, &#8220;We are committed to hosting a Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration that is safe and responsible and working closely with NPS to do so. I respectfully ask that you continue that hopeful message you shared earlier this month and uphold our Agreement to host the event this year.&#8221;

F7E1B039-23DA-44DC-89DB-DAC595CB9460_1_201_a

Gov. Kristi Noem Pushes Back Against Biden Administration, Asks President To Allow Fireworks At Mount Rushmore

Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem fired back Tuesday at MSNBC host Joy Reid after she disparaged Mount Rushmore on Presidents Day as a &#8220;stone idol to presidential colonizers.&#8221;
“Last night @JoyAnnReid called Mount Rushmore the ‘stone idol to presidential colonizers.’ On Presidents’ Day of all days!” Noem tweeted from her gubernatorial account. “The left wants to re-write our history by attacking the leaders who made America the most special country ever. It’s our duty to teach our kids the truth.”
https://twitter.com/govkristinoem/status/1361689178250043399
Noem, a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate, has <a href="https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/education/gov-noem-seeks-900-000-to-revise-u-s-history-curriculum-in-states-public-schools/article_590f7490-f996-567b-a010-d00bdb0138e0.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proposed</a> nearly $1 million to overhaul the state&#8217;s school history curriculum to make it pro-America.
Reid made her comment Monday during a monologue in which she lambasted Noem for not enforcing COVID-19 restrictions last summer when former President Donald Trump held a rally at Mount Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota. She also took umbrage to the fact that Noem gave Trump a $1,100 bust depicting him on Mount Rushmore as a gift.
&#8220;According to financial disclosures last month, Noem gave you-know-who a thousand-dollar bust depicting him on the stone idol to presidential colonizers last year because she knew it was something that he wanted to receive,&#8221; Reid snarked. She went on to attack Noem for allegedly using taxpayer funds to travel to GOP campaign events, which Reid described as &#8220;acts of supplication to the MAGA cult leader and his minions.&#8221; Noem&#8217;s office, Reid noted, has denied the allegations.
Reid, who goes by the name &#8220;Joy-Ann Pro-Democracy &amp; Masks Reid&#8221; on Twitter, made several other caustic comments on Presidents Day.
&#8220;Happy Presidents Day to all of our living presidents who DIDN’T commit insurrection against the United States or try to get their vice presidents lynched!&#8221; she tweeted.
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/1361372874397876225
She also claimed attempting to get along with Republicans is pointless because the party is &#8220;an anti-democracy insurgency.&#8221;
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/1361385502956486657
Reid has gotten herself into trouble before with inflammatory things she has said. On Election Night, she referred to Justice Clarence Thomas as &#8220;<a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/11/04/msnbc-joy-reid-supreme-court-justice-clarence-thomas-uncle-clarence-election-night-commentary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Uncle Clarence</a>,&#8221; in an apparent reference to Uncle Tom. In September, she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joy-reid-responds-to-muslim-comments-backlash-criticism-not-in-good-faith" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">acknowledged</a> that comparing Trump supporters to radicalized Muslim terrorists was not &#8220;in good faith.&#8221;
Reid apologized when a blog she wrote in the mid-2000s was <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/27/17286392/joy-reid-msnbc-lgbtq-gay-hack" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unearthed</a> in 2018 and found to be replete with homophobic comments. Reid at first claimed she was hacked, and then later issued an apology, claiming she didn&#8217;t believe she wrote her own blog.
&#8220;I genuinely do not believe I wrote those hateful things, because they are completely alien to me,” Reid said. “But I can definitely understand, based on things I have tweeted and have written in the past, why some people don’t believe me. I’ve not been exempt from being dumb or cruel or hurtful to the very people I want to advocate for. I own that. I get it. And for that, I am truly, truly sorry.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/raynard-jackson-don-lemon-joy-reid-are-putting-more-poison-into-the-black-community-than-any-drug-dealer" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Raynard Jackson: Don Lemon, Joy Reid ‘Are Putting More Poison Into The Black Community Than Any Drug Dealer’</a>

Kristi Noem and Joy Reid

Gov. Kristi Noem Hits Back At Joy Reid For Calling Mount Rushmore ‘Stone Idol To Presidential Colonizers’

Joy Reid

President Donald Trump blasted The New York Times on Sunday after the left-leaning newspaper claimed that the White House reached out to South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem&#8217;s office and asked about adding another president to Mount Rushmore.
&#8220;Since the first days after she was elected governor of South Dakota in 2018, Kristi Noem had been working to ensure that President Trump would come to Mount Rushmore for a fireworks-filled July 4 extravaganza,&#8221; The New York Times reported. &#8220;After all, the president had told her in the Oval Office that he aspired to have his image etched on the monument.&#8221;
&#8220;And last year, a White House aide reached out to the governor’s office with a question, according to a Republican official familiar with the conversation: What’s the process to add additional presidents to Mount Rushmore?&#8221; The New York Times claimed.
The New York Times said that in private, Noem &#8220;greeted him with a four-foot replica of Mount Rushmore that included a fifth presidential likeness: his.&#8221;
Trump responded to a re-aggregated version of the story that was published by CNN, writing, &#8220;This is Fake News by the failing [New York Times] &amp; bad ratings [CNN]. Never suggested it although, based on all of the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, sounds like a good idea to me!&#8221;
Trump also tweeted out a photograph from his recent trip to Mount Rushmore in an apparent effort to troll the Times and CNN.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/FPSif7Ieff">pic.twitter.com/FPSif7Ieff</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1292628551926263808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump&#8217;s speech during his Fourth of July trip to Mount Rushmore was widely praised everywhere except the media, which <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/ben-shapiro-trump-july-fourth-speech-mount-rushmore">portrayed</a> the speech as &#8220;dark and divisive.&#8221;
&#8220;Today, we pay tribute to the exceptional lives and extraordinary legacies of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. I am here as your President to proclaim before the country and before the world: This monument will never be desecrated, these heroes will never be defaced, their legacy will never, ever be destroyed, their achievements will never be forgotten, and Mount Rushmore will stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-south-dakotas-2020-mount-rushmore-fireworks-celebration-keystone-south-dakota/">said</a>.
&#8220;We gather tonight to herald the most important day in the history of nations: July 4th, 1776. At those words, every American heart should swell with pride. Every American family should cheer with delight. And every American patriot should be filled with joy, because each of you lives in the most magnificent country in the history of the world, and it will soon be greater than ever before,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Our Founders launched not only a revolution in government, but a revolution in the pursuit of justice, equality, liberty, and prosperity. No nation has done more to advance the human condition than the United States of America. And no people have done more to promote human progress than the citizens of our great nation.&#8221;
&#8220;These immortal words set in motion the unstoppable march of freedom. Our Founders boldly declared that we are all endowed with the same divine rights — given [to] us by our Creator in Heaven. And that which God has given us, we will allow no one, ever, to take away — ever,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Seventeen seventy-six represented the culmination of thousands of years of western civilization and the triumph not only of spirit, but of wisdom, philosophy, and reason.&#8221;
&#8220;And yet, 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,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children.&#8221;
&#8220;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,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Many of these people have no idea why they are doing this, but some know exactly what they are doing. They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive. But no, the American people are strong and proud, and they will not allow our country, and all of its values, history, and culture, to be taken from them.&#8221;
&#8220;One of their political weapons is &#8216;Cancel Culture&#8217; — driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and our values, and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America. This attack on our liberty, our magnificent liberty, must be stopped, and it will be stopped very quickly. We will expose this dangerous movement, protect our nation’s children, end this radical assault, and preserve our beloved American way of life.&#8221;
&#8220;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,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;Make no mistake: this left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution. In so doing, they would destroy the very civilization that rescued billions from poverty, disease, violence, and hunger, and that lifted humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery, and progress.&#8221;
&#8220;To make this possible, they are determined to tear down every statue, symbol, and memory of our national heritage,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;The violent mayhem we have seen in the streets of cities that are run by liberal Democrats, in every case, is the predictable result of years of extreme indoctrination and bias in education, journalism, and other cultural institutions.&#8221;
&#8220;Against every law of society and nature, our children are taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but that were villains,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;The radical view of American history is a web of lies — all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted, and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Trump holds Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B6cLl_hHm7Y?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;

US-POLITICS-HOLIDAY-TRUMP

Trump Trolls NYT After They Claim White House Asked About Adding Another President To Mount Rushmore

American History

Donald Trump

New York Times

On Tuesday night, Don Lemon floated a strange idea for solving America&#8217;s racial disparities: putting former President Barack Obama&#8217;s face on Mount Rushmore.
Responding to President Trump&#8217;s speech at the famed monument, Lemon said that the racist and divisive history of the country should translate into the first black president being placed on Mount Rushmore.
&#8220;You see the right-wing machine kick in, media machine kick in, when you see Trump’s poll numbers go south. They kick in with ‘Democratic cities are in chaos right now. Is this what you want from Joe Biden?’ And ‘they’re gonna take your country away,’ and ‘they’re taking down the statues,’ and ‘crime is rising. Oh my gosh, it’s so bad,’&#8221; <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/don-lemon-obama-mount-rushmore">said Lemon regarding Trump&#8217;s speech</a>. &#8220;Defunding police. And the people who you saw there, for the most part – not them specifically, I’m talking about as a whole – fall for it. They fall for it, and that’s why they do things like what they did. They want to paint over signs and they think it’s ‘our country,’ ‘this is the country that we built.’”
Lemon added that the rich diversity of American history shows that the country was built by people who were not fortunate enough to have statues dedicated to them, arguing that Barack Obama&#8217;s face on Mount Rushmore could help rectify that.
&#8220;Even though a rich diversity of people helped to build this country, and many of us, meaning our ancestors, for free — did not get paid for it, could not get an education, could not build wealth, are not on statues, Confederate or otherwise, are not on Mount Rushmore,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think, listen … if they’re going to put someone on Mount Rushmore, considering the history of this country, the first black president should be front and center.”
Shortly after Lemon&#8217;s monologue, CNN host Chris Cuomo jumped into the fray to endorse the idea as being more palatable than destroying the Founding Fathers.
&#8220;Add to Mount Rushmore. I think &#8230; first of all, I think it&#8217;s a more salable idea than the idea of taking away Founding Fathers,&#8221; said Cuomo.
&#8220;So, what&#8217;s wrong with all of us together thinking or reshaping our country so that more people – rethinking our country in the way we think and where our priorities are so that this country belongs to everyone,&#8221; Lemon later added.
&#8220;Nothing’s wrong with it,&#8221; Cuomo responded.
Lemon then brought up the idea that Mount Rushmore is on &#8220;stolen land,&#8221; and that even an addition to the monument might still be offensive to Native Americans.
&#8220;Maybe some of the people up there on Mount Rushmore, who knows? &#8230; The name shouldn&#8217;t be Mount Rushmore if you talk to Native Americans. They say it is stolen land. It was only Mount Rushmore 40 years before they started to carve presidents&#8217; faces in it. No one got any money for that,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;You&#8217;re totally right. I think the premise is where we&#8217;re gonna have to work towards, which is, if we all decide. It&#8217;s about consensus and collective consciousness,&#8221; Cuomo concluded.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Cuomo and Lemon on people vandalizing Black Lives Matter mural: This is just wrong" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yDudzkqWbyE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

13th Annual CNN Heroes

WATCH: Don Lemon Proposes Fixing Mount Rushmore By Adding Obama’s Face

Barack Obama

Chris Cuomo

Don Lemon

As you already know, we’ve descended into full idiocy. The world — with its cancel culture and PC police, its race riots and pandemic panic — has gone insane, and there’s no end in sight.
Think that’s hyperbole? Then consider this: CNN wants to ban such “racist” words and phrases as “blackball,” “sold down the river,” “whitelist” and, of course, “master bedroom.” The liberal cable network notes that the term “master bedroom” first appeared in 1926 — 63 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves — but adds this wonderful line, “While it’s unclear whether the term is rooted in American slavery on plantations, it evokes that history.”
What’s the point of all the madness, you ask? It’s all to discredit President Trump, which CNN and most every liberal “news” outlet has been painting as a blatant racist since before he moved into the White House.
And for CNN, it’s a game they play openly and brazenly.
Case in point: Trump’s visit to Mount Rushmore on Independence Day weekend. CNN called the massive carved sculptures of Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt a “monument of two slave owners” on “land wrestled away from Native Americans.”
But the monument was something very different when Democratic President Barack Obama visited the monument.
“Barack Obama is campaigning in South Dakota,” CNN anchor Ron Marciano said in 2008. “That state’s primary is Tuesday. Obama arrived there late last night and got a good look around Mount Rushmore — it’s quite a sight if you haven’t seen it.”
“Barack Obama is in South Dakota today,” added fellow CNN anchor Betty Nguyen. “He arrived there last night. Take a look at this. He got a good glimpse of the majestic Mount Rushmore.”
On Friday, when Trump visited, somehow the site had morphed into a racist ode to slave owners.
“At a time of racial unease, when protesters are tearing down statues of slaveholders and calling for the names of Confederate generals to be removed from army bases, the Rushmore event is a reminder that Trump is fighting to preserve these relics of heritage and history that some see as symbols of oppression,” CNN’s Washington correspondent Joe Johns said. “And to indigenous people, Mount Rushmore, with four white presidents, two of whom were slave owners, is one of those symbols.”
CNN correspondent Leyla Santiago echoed the sentiment. “President Trump will be at Mount Rushmore, where he’ll be standing in front of a monument of two slave owners and on land wrestled away from Native Americans told that, uh, be focusing on the effort to ‘tear down our country’s history,’” she said.
During her report, a chyron on screen said, “Reexamining ‘Independence’ Day” (yes, the word “Independence” in quotes). And at the end, anchor Jake Tapper said simply: “All right. Leyla Santiago, with that report, thank you so much.”
CNN also turned to an “expert” — Sioux Falls Argus Leader columnist Stu Whitney — who said: “I think that is a source of concern for people that see this certainly within a state with a Native American population nearly 10% and much higher in Rapid City, concerned about a place that has a lot of spiritual significance. And historical significance when you look at what they and most historians consider to be broken promises and broken treaties.”
Many astute viewers caught the blatant two-faced bias. Trump campaign Deputy Director of Communications Zach Parkinson posted a video clip from 2016, when then-presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders visited the monument.
“In 2016, CNN’s Jeff Zeleny called Mount Rushmore a ‘monument to four great American presidents’ &#8230; Bernie Sanders said ‘this is our country at its very best,’ called it an ‘incredible achievement,’ and said it ‘really does make one very proud to be an American,’” Parkinson wrote on Twitter.
He added: “Fascinating how CNN called Mount Rushmore ‘majestic’ and ‘quite a sight’ in 2008 when Obama visited, but now it&#8217;s a symbol of slavery and stolen land.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Fascinating how CNN called Mount Rushmore &quot;majestic&quot; and &quot;quite a sight&quot; in 2008 when Obama visited, but now its a symbol of slavery and stolen land<a href="https://t.co/3sV1ZEfW9L">https://t.co/3sV1ZEfW9L</a> <a href="https://t.co/GTIH9tzOim">https://t.co/GTIH9tzOim</a> <a href="https://t.co/5Vu6uQp4XS">pic.twitter.com/5Vu6uQp4XS</a>
&mdash; Zach Parkinson (@AZachParkinson) <a href="https://twitter.com/AZachParkinson/status/1279175939709120513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
And he noted that CNN’s Jim Acosta — a longtime sufferer of Trump Derangement Syndrome — gushed when Obama visited Mount Rushmore, calling it in 2008 a “fitting stop for a presidential contender.”
Others chimed in. “Pursuant to the new moral stricture promulgated this week by the NYT &amp; CNN — that Mount Rushmore is a shameful monument to racism and white supremacy — both CNN and Bernie Sanders ought to repent for this praise they jointly heaped on it in 2016,” said Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Pursuant to the new moral stricture promulgated this week by the NYT &amp; CNN &#8212; that Mount Rushmore is a shameful monument to racism and white supremacy &#8212; both CNN and Bernie Sanders ought to repent for this praise they jointly heaped on it in 2016:<a href="https://t.co/0MRNO2PJ2j">pic.twitter.com/0MRNO2PJ2j</a>
&mdash; Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a href="https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1279211368525320194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Said GOP Rapid Response Coordinator Steve Guest: “This is what media bias looks like.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Flash forward to 2020, CNN: “President Trump will be at Mount Rushmore, where he’ll be standing in front of a monument of two slave owners and on land wrestled away from Native Americans.”
This is what media bias looks like. <a href="https://t.co/2Je43scrRp">https://t.co/2Je43scrRp</a>
&mdash; Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1279190473442242560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Ryan Fournier, founder and co-chairman of Turning Point Action, asked simply: “What changed?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
In 2008, Barack Obama visited Mt. Rushmore. 
CNN called it “majestic” and “quite a sight.”
Trump visits Mt. Rushmore and they call it “A monument of two slave owners and on land wrestled away from Native Americans.”
What changed? 🤔
&mdash; Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanAFournier/status/1279438418213326850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The answer: The president now is a Republican, not a Democrat.
And to CNN, that’s all that matters.
*Joseph Curl ran the Drudge Report from 2010 to 2014 and covered the White House for a dozen years. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter at @JosephCurl. A version of this article ran previously in The Washington Times.

Menu