If you thought that Fox News was toe-curlingly sycophantic towards Donald Trump before, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Now that he’s president and spreading his hateful, poorly thought-out policies across America, Fox News have decided they want him added to Mount Rushmore. Yes, really.
The subject came up on the “news” channel’s Outnumbered segment, as reported by Mediaite. “If there’s room up there, I think it’d be great,” said host Jason Chaffetz. “I think what Donald Trump has done and is in the process of doing is transforming the United States of America, and putting America first. And I think America loves it, and I think there’s a great case for it!” Notably, Chaffetz once told the world he could “no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president,” after the Trump “grab them by the p***y” misogyny scandal – but it didn’t take much for him to get sucked into the all-consuming cult of Trump eventually.
Former Trump press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, joined in with, “Yeah, I’m fascinated by this, because that would be some sweet irony after President Joe Biden stopped the fireworks display from Mount Rushmore. So, if you did, like, the 250th anniversary of the country at Mount Rushmore with President Trump’s face, it would be epic.” Yep, as usual, MAGA isn’t about doing anything that would actually help the country, all they want to do is spite Biden and Democrats.
To be fair, as painful as it is to be fair to these people, Nancy Pelosi did suggest adding Biden to Mount Rushmore in 2024. But that was one voice that no-one took seriously, while people very much seem to be taking the call to add Trump seriously. Conservative commentator Corey Lewandowski demanded Trump become part of Mount Rushmore during an appearance on The Benny Show, saying, “We got the votes. Trump’s gonna sign it. Let’s get it done. To memorialize what this man’s achieved for this country.” In response, congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna declared, “I’m actually filing the legislation as we speak.”
But it’s not going to happen for the simple reason that it can’t. Back in 2020, Mount Rushmore National Memorial Chief of Interpretation and Education Maureen McGee-Ballinger shut the conversation down. “The rock that surrounds the sculpted faces is not suitable for additional carving,” she told the Argus Leader. “When Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore died in 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum closed down the project and stated that no more carvable rock existed.”
And then, of course, there’s the fact that Mount Rushmore was built on land taken from Native Americans. It was sacred land to the Sioux Nation, and white settlers broke a treaty in order to build on it. The Sioux have notably not been included in this discussion about adding a new face to the mountain. But that’s Trump’s America for you.
Published: Jan 29, 2025 4:19 PM UTC