A frequent MSNBC guest filling in for Joy Reid as host of Am Joy this weekend claimed the Fourth of July is a day of “independence for white men.”
MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross took the helm of the show Saturday morning following President Trump’s speech in South Dakota at Mount Rushmore for Independence Day. Cross claimed that the president’s choice of Mount Rushmore for his holiday speech was similar to his campaign choosing Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a rally site on Juneteenth, which was later postponed.
“And so here we are, celebrating the birth of a nation, independence for white men, at a site described by one native American activist as, quote, ‘A symbol of white supremacy,’” Cross said.
“Trump choosing Mount Rushmore for a Fourth of July campaign stop is like when he chose Tulsa, the site of the 1921 massacre against black Americans, for his Juneteenth weekend rally. It’s that cold, tired, and familiar jab to black, brown, and indigenous people that makes the shrinking MAGA voter feel as big as a 60-foot face of a colonizing slave owner.”
Trump’s speech on Friday in South Dakota was met with protests from Native Americans decrying the land was taken from the Sioux tribe to build Mount Rushmore. The president focused on protests that have spread across the country in recent weeks in the wake of unarmed black man George Floyd. Floyd died in police custody when white former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
“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 our freedom,” Trump said, referring to Mount Rushmore.
“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. Not gonna happen to us,” he added.
