Governor Stands Up in Defense of Mount Rushmore: 'Not on My Watch'
As leftist demonstrators take aim at statues and monuments that honor former American presidents, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has announced that Mount Rushmore will be protected.
On Monday, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro gave his take on a movement by anti-American demonstrators to destroy statues and other monuments.
“So, when is our woke historical revisionist priesthood going to insist on blowing up Mount Rushmore?” he asked in a tweet.
So, when is our woke historical revisionist priesthood going to insist on blowing up Mount Rushmore?
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 22, 2020
Mount Rushmore is in the southwestern portion of South Dakota, and Noem, a Republican, said she will ensure the national treasure is preserved.
“Not on my watch,” Noem wrote in response to Shapiro.
Not on my watch. https://t.co/U6gGap5Ib6
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) June 23, 2020
Mount Rushmore was constructed between 1927 and 1941 and honors former Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
The American landmark boasts roughly 3 million visitors a year, according to the state’s tourism website.
But in the last few weeks, as protests and acts of violence have escalated since the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody, monuments honoring three of the presidents on Mount Rushmore have been attacked.
In Portland, Oregon, vandals toppled statues of Washington and Jefferson.
Washington’s statue in the city was wrapped in an American flag and set on fire before being taken down.
Antifa rioters on Sandy Blvd. in Portland draped a US flag over a George Washington statue & set it on fire. They then toppled the statue. “Genocidal colonist” & “f— cops” are sprayed on monument. Rioters have began to build another autonomous zone nearby. pic.twitter.com/TrZkhPK9zp
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 19, 2020
A Jefferson statue was also knocked down by vandals.
Thomas Jefferson statue now toppled over at Jefferson High School. This was the meeting spot for tonight’s march in Portland. Wasn’t like this before we left at 7:15.
A speaker here says, “We’re taking the city back, one racist statue at a time.” #Portland #breakingnews pic.twitter.com/PiRh00yPzv
— Bonnie Silkman KPTV (@BonnieSilkman) June 15, 2020
But the sentiment against former presidents is not limited to street demonstrators.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio both announced this week they support the removal of a statue of Roosevelt at the Museum of Natural History.
The mayor described the statue — which features Roosevelt on horseback flanked by Native American and African men — as “not acceptable.”
“The statue has representations that clearly do not represent today’s values. The statute clearly presents a white man as superior to people of color and that’s just not acceptable in this day and age and it never should have been acceptable,” de Blasio said, according to the New York Post.
Fellow Democrat Cuomo agreed with the decision, saying, “I think the museum has a made a decision. They think the statue in this environment is in bad taste, they want to take it down, I support their decision.”
President Donald Trump announced Monday he is planning to take executive action to force cities to protect national monuments from vandalism.
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