President Trump will deliver a speech at the event, held to mark Independence Day in the US. [Source: BBC]
US President Donald Trump is presiding over an event to mark 4 July celebrations at Mount Rushmore, despite concerns over coronavirus.
In a speech at the South Dakota landmark, he said it would “stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom”.
“This monument will never be desecrated, these heroes will never be defaced,” he told a cheering crowd.
Mount Rushmore features the carved faces of four US presidents.
Activists have long taken issue with the monument, which was created on land sacred to the Sioux tribe. Two of the former presidents depicted – George Washington and Thomas Jefferson – were slave-owners.
The president’s decision to hold an event there has been criticised at a time when statues of Confederate generals and slave-owners are being re-evaluated, and in many cases pulled down, amid anti-racism protests.
