President Donald Trump’s trip to Mount Rushmore on Friday was met with jeers from the ever-so-reliably anti-Trump network CNN, which had all kinds of negative things to say about the monument in connection to Trump’s visit.
“President Trump will be at Mt. Rushmore where he’ll be standing in front of a monument of two slave owners and on land wrestled away from Native Americans told that [they are] focusing on the effort to, quote, tear down our country’s history,” reported CNN Leyla Santiago on The Lead with Jake Tapper.
We could check the archives, but safe bet that this is the first time CNN has ever described Mount Rushmore as:
“A monument of two slave owners and on land wrestled away from Native Americans.”
What changed, @CNN?pic.twitter.com/0ukqhyVH7B
— Tim Murtaugh – Download the Trump 2020 app today! (@TimMurtaugh) July 3, 2020
She wasn’t alone in showing such glaring negativity towards Mount Rushmore.
“[A]t a time of racial unease, when protesters are tearing down statues of slaveholders and calling for the names of Confederate generals to be removed from army bases, the Rushmore event is a reminder that Trump is fighting to preserve these relics of heritage and history that some see as symbols of oppression,” said CNN Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns. “And to indigenous people, Mount Rushmore, with four white presidents, two of whom were slave owners, is one of those symbols.”
But, boy, did CNN have a different attitude about Barack Obama’s visit to Mount Rushmore in May 2008, while campaigning for president.
“Obama arrived there late last night and got a good look around Mount Rushmore — it’s quite a sight if you haven’t seen it,” said CNN anchor Rob Marciano.
“Barack Obama is in South Dakota today. He arrived there last night. Take a look at this. He got a good glimpse of the majestic Mount Rushmore,” fellow CNN anchor Betty Nguyen said later in the same broadcast.
A few days later, CNN’s Jim Acosta described Obama’s visit to Mount Rushmore like this: “It’s a fitting campaign stop for a presidential contender looking to make history. Standing before Mount Rushmore over the weekend, Barack Obama was asked whether he sees his face joining the likes of Washington and Lincoln.”
Is that ***rubs eyes*** Jim Acosta saying Mount Rushmore is a “fitting campaign stop for a presidential contender”?https://t.co/9d07hSSwPz pic.twitter.com/GAQCCGVIik
— Zach Parkinson (@AZachParkinson) July 3, 2020
It’s amazing how Mount Rushmore went from “quite a sight,” “majestic,” and “a fitting campaign stop” when Obama visited but turned into a symbol of slavery and oppression when Donald Trump visited.
It’s funny how that all works.
_____
Matt Margolis is the author of the new book Airborne: How The Liberal Media Weaponized The Coronavirus Against Donald Trump, and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
Join the conversation as a VIP Member