South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem Wednesday vowed that Mount Rushmore will be protected from anyone who wants to cause harm to it, as targeting monuments has moved past being about equality and has turned to a "radical rewriting of history."
"In South Dakota, we won't stand for it," Noem said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends."
There has not yet been a serious push to do anything with the national monument and tourist attraction in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where the faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt are carved into the massive mountain display. However, Noem said on Wednesday there has been some "activity online where people have made threats" that Mount Rushmore could attract protests, and all of the figures on Mount Rushmore have been targeted by protesters pulling down or defacing other statues depicting them after the George Floyd killing.
Noem acknowledged that the four presidents, like anyone else, did have "flaws," but the more people focus on that aspect of them, "the less likely we are to recognize the virtues and the lessons we can learn from their lives."
The Republican governor pointed out that Mount Rushmore obviously comes under federal protection as a national monument, and South Dakota will partner with federal officials and use state resources to protect the landmark.
"This threat to the mountain could remain in place for quite some time," she said. "We're prepared to be there and be diligent about protecting it."
President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that anyone involved in vandalizing statues could be jailed for up to 10 years through the authority of the Veteran's Memorial Preservation Act.