While it seemed like nothing more than a political talking point earlier this week, a lawmaker is pushing to have Trump’s face added to the Mount Rushmore monument through a bill introduced Tuesday.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) introduced the bill on Tuesday, a day after the point was raised during a panel discussion on Fox News’ Fox News’ show “Outnumbered.”
“His remarkable accomplishments for our country and the success he will continue to deliver deserve the highest recognition and honor on this iconic national monument,” Luna wrote on X. “Let’s get carving!”
Behind the potential addition of Trump to the iconic landmark would be the Interior Department, being that the move was approved by Congress.
“Mount Rushmore, a timeless symbol of our nation’s freedom and strength, deserves to reflect his towering legacy—a legacy further solidified by the powerful start to his second term,” Luna shared in a separate statement. “He will be forever remembered among the great like Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.”
The comments from Luna echoed that of several Fox News contributors who shared a similar sentiment when discussing adding Trump’s face to Mount Rushmore as a means to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.
“Hey, if there’s room up there, I think it’d be great,” former GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz (UT) said. “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.”
“Yeah, I’m fascinated by this because that would be some sweet irony after President Joe Biden stopped the fireworks display from Mount Rushmore,” former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany added. “So, if you did, like, the 250th anniversary of the country at Mount Rushmore with President Trump’s face, it would be epic.”
When the idea was first floated in 2019, Trump didn’t shy away from it, though did stop himself from backing it, saying it would be a costly addition that could bring bad press.
“If I answer that question, ‘Yes,’ I will end up with such bad publicity,” Trump told The Hill.
Local Native American tribes have pushed back on the idea of adding Trump to the monument, saying it continues the trend of forcibly taking tribal land.
“Mount Rushmore is a symbol of white supremacy, of structural racism that’s still alive and well in society today,” Nick Tilsen, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and the president of NDN Collective, a local activist organization, shared with The Associated Press. “It’s an injustice to actively steal Indigenous people’s land then carve the white faces of the conquerors who committed genocide.”