Trump said he would “safeguard our values” and “defend, protect and preserve (the) American way of life.”
By World Israel News Staff and Associated Press
President Donald Trump vowed to safeguard America’s values from enemies within — leftists, looters, agitators — in a Fourth of July speech at the White House on Saturday evening during a “Salute to America” event.
“We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and the people who, in many instances, have absolutely no clue what they are doing,” he said.
Trump watched paratroopers float to the ground in a tribute to America, greeted his audience of front-line medical workers and others central in responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and opened up on those who “slander” him and disrespect the country’s past.
“And we will defend, protect and preserve (the) American way of life, which began in 1492 when Columbus discovered America.”
Pat Lee made the trip from north of Philadelphia after seeing last year’s Mall celebration on TV.
She said the protests over racial injustice that unfolded near her were so threatening that people in her suburban neighborhood took turns staying up all night and those who didn’t own guns stationed bats and shovels in their garages. Her friend from Pennsylvania, who didn’t want to be identified, said she spent more than three hours in line to buy a gun.
“I want people to stop calling us racists,” Lee said. “We’re not racists. Just because you love your country, love the people in your country, doesn’t make you a racist.”
Carrying on a theme from his speech on Friday against the backdrop of the Mount Rushmore monuments, he went after those who have torn down statues or think some of them, particularly those of Confederate figures, should be removed.
“We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children or trample on our freedoms,” he said. “Our past is not a burden to be cast away.”
Trump accused protesters of engaging in a “merciless campaign to wipe out our history.”
On Friday, he hailed the American leaders portrayed on the monument, calling them “American giants in full flesh and blood, gallant men, whose intrepid deeds unleashed the greatest leap of human advancement the world has ever known.”
At Mount Rushmore, he also reminded his listeners of what America had done for the world with its message of freedom and equality.
“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,” he said.