Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called President Donald Trump’s Independence Day speech at the annual Salute to America celebration “one of the best” of his presidency.
The president delivered back-to-back speeches over the holiday weekend, the first of which took place Friday night in front of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. In both addresses, Trump delivered an unapologetic defense of American culture and history, mercilessly deriding the “cancel culture.”
“In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, 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. It’s not going to happen to us,” Trump said during his Mount Rushmore address.
“Make no mistake: this left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution. In so doing, they would destroy the very civilization that rescued billions from poverty, disease, violence, and hunger, and that lifted humanity to new heights of achievement, discovery, and progress,” the president continued.
He implored Republican politicians to “summon the bravery and determination of our American ancestors.”
“My fellow Americans, it is time to speak up loudly and strongly and powerfully and defend the integrity of our country,” Trump said. “Here tonight before the eyes of our forefathers, Americans declare again, as we did 244 years ago, that we will not be tyrannized, we will not be demeaned, and we will not be intimidated by bad, evil people. It will not happen.”
His Independence Day speech in Washington focused on the “magnificent legacy” of America.
“We are the descendants of the most daring and courageous people ever to walk on the face of the Earth. We inherit their towering confidence, unwavering enthusiasm, their unbridled ambition, and their unrelenting optimism. This is the untamed spirit that built this glorious nation, and this is the spirit that burns brightly within the soul of every American patriot,” Trump declared.
“We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children, or trample on our freedoms. We will safeguard our values, traditions, customs, and beliefs,” he said.
Blackburn praised Trump during a Fox News interview Sunday for reminding the American people “that we are unique.”
“In this country you have the ability to do whatever you want to do, to dream those big dreams and make them come true,” she said.
The Republican senator said she likes the president’s plan to build a new “National Garden of American Heroes,” which he authorized in an executive order issued Friday.
“Wouldn’t it be fabulous to have this national garden where people could go and be inspired, and say, ‘I want to do something that is going to be significant for my country,’” said Blackburn.
Watch the full interview below:
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
