US President Donald Trump on Friday bemoaned protests demanding racial justice as “violent mayhem,” but said little about an alarming resurgence of COVID-19 cases as he attended a crowded, fireworks-studded Independence Day celebration beneath Mount Rushmore.
Trump, under fire for his response to the US’ spiraling coronavirus caseload four months before the US presidential election, spoke on the eve of the July 4 celebrations before thousands of closely packed people — many of whom chanted “four more years”; few of whom were wearing masks.
He accused protesters calling for racial justice of “a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children.”
Photo: AP
“The violent mayhem we have seen in the streets and cities ... is the predictable results of years of extreme indoctrination and bias in education, journalism and other cultural institutions,” he added.
The US has been engulfed by a once-in-a-generation reckoning on racism and police brutality since George Floyd, an African-American, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
Trump — who has also been criticized for his response to the protests — promised that Mount Rushmore would never be defaced, and that he would never abolish the police or the right to bear arms.
“They want to silence us — but we will not be silenced,” he said to cheers, adding later that it was time to “speak up loudly, strongly, powerfully and defend the integrity of our country.”
Trump did briefly thank those “working tirelessly to kill the virus” during his comments on Friday.
However, otherwise he has had little to say about the shocking increase in US virus cases.
On Friday a record 57,000 new infections were confirmed. The pandemic has claimed nearly 130,000 American lives, and the recent resurgence “puts the entire country at risk,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci has said.
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