U.S. President Donald Trump decried what he described as efforts to eliminate American history and malign heroes, lashing out at those protesting symbols they say celebrate racial injustice as he stoked culture wars over history and education.
"Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children,” Trump said Friday at an Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
It was an extension of the president’s comments in recent weeks denouncing a movement to re-examine the racial record of historic figures after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, while in Minneapolis police custody. Those efforts have led to the removal of statues, including Confederate generals and slave owners, from public and private facilities.