Cornerstone: In a speech at Mount Rushmore on the eve of Independence Day, US President Donald Trump called on Americans to protect the freedoms envisioned by the Founders 250 years ago and fend off what he said was a “communist” threat posed by progressive Democrats.“We stand under the monument to these heroes, a truly incredible group of people, and we rededicate ourselves to being a nation as strong, brave, noble and great as these American giants,” Trump said on a granite mountain in South Dakota that bears the faces of four U.S. presidents. “It’s not easy to do, but we will do it.”“Now, the communist threat is back on our soil, including new immigrants from our country who embrace ideas that are diametrically opposed to our way of life and success,” he said. “We won’t let that happen.”Trump has been making this point about the gains of democratic socialists all week, but he delivered his sharpest and most sustained argument on the subject on Friday, as Americans grapple with persistent inflation and high oil prices since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.Republican lawmakers are increasingly concerned that the conflict could cost the party control of at least one chamber of Congress in the November midterm elections, and they have seized on a string of recent successes by left-wing Democratic candidates.Trump said threats also come from “newcomers to our country,” and he tied his anti-communist rhetoric to anti-immigration themes that fueled his election and have historically been part of U.S. criticism of communism. At one point on Friday, Trump said new immigrants needed to be deported. “We resolve and declare to all that the citizens of the United States of America will swiftly defeat communism... We will send them off quickly, and we will continue to build our country bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. America will never become a communist country! ” Trump said, before immediately launching into a discussion of the issue at hand.“We’re only going to lose midterms if we allow ourselves to lose midterms.”Four progressive candidates, including three democratic socialists, won competitive Democratic primaries in New York City last week and in Colorado on Tuesday. Progressive candidates also won races in Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Trump last week called their victory “the greatest threat to our country since our founding.”On Saturday, Trump was scheduled to address a crowd on the National Mall ahead of a massive fireworks display as a scorching heat wave disrupted Fourth of July celebrations across much of the United States. Temperatures at Mount Rushmore are as cool as 18°C. (This is a Reuters report)
