South Dakota Governor: Trump wanted his face on Mount Rushmore and it wasn't a joke 1:04
(CNN) - On Sunday night, President Donald Trump tweeted a photo of himself standing in front of Mount Rushmore, an image that made him look like he was the fifth presidential bust at the iconic monument.
Here is the picture:
pic.twitter.com/FPSif7Ieff
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
Moments later, he tweeted a kind of denial of a report by The New York Times that he had spoken with the governor of Dakota of the South, Kristi Noem, about the possibility of adding your own face to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
Trump tweeted:
«This is Fake News from the failed @nytimes and @CNN bad audience. I never suggested it, although based on all the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, it seems like a good idea to me. "
So Trump says a) that he has never raised the possibility with Noem of being added to Mount Rushmore, but b) he thinks it sounds like a great idea!
Let's take the first point… first.
We know that Trump did, in fact, raise the issue with Naomi and that he was serious about it.
“He said, 'Kristi, come here. Give me your hand, '"Noem told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader of a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. “I shook his hand and said, 'Mr. President, you should come to South Dakota at some point. We have Mount Rushmore. ' And he went on, 'You know it's my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?' I started to laugh. He wasn't laughing so he was totally serious, ”she said.
Then there's this from a Trump campaign rally in July 2017:
“Every one of the presidents on Mount Rushmore - I would ask you whether or not you believe that I will one day be on the mountain. But here's the rub: If he did it, kidding, totally kidding, the fake news media would say that he thinks he should be on Mount Rushmore. So I won't say it.
You're not kidding. Remember that Trump always uses the I'm-just-kidding-and-you-media-riggers-explanation when he says something he a) wants to say and b) wants a chance to walk away from what was said. But he is not kidding. Not at all.
Don't believe me. Believe Noem. Again!
This is from the Times story that came out on Sunday (bold are mine):
«Introducing mr. Trump against the lighted backdrop of her sculpted predecessors, the governor took advantage of the president's lust for adulation by noting that in just three days more than 125,000 people had signed up to occupy just 7,500 seats; she linked her to Theodore Roosevelt, a leader who "stands up to the dangers of the sand"; and she imitated the president's rhetoric by disparaging the protesters who, according to her, were trying to discredit the country's founders.
"In private, efforts to charm Trump were more precise, according to a person familiar with the episode: Ms. Noem greeted him with a 1.2-meter replica of Mount Rushmore that included a fifth presidential image: his .
He had a replica of Mount Rushmore made with Trump's face! I repeat: it had a replica of Mount Rushmore with Trump's face on it!
Is that the kind of thing you would do if you thought the president of the United States was joking? Especially after having a conversation with him about his "dream" of being added to Mount Rushmore, a conversation that you told the media was "totally serious"?
Of course not!
Then consider what we already know about Trump:
1) He's a real estate guy who believes that the way you keep yourself important, and make sure you are remembered, is by putting your name (or face!) On everything you can.
2) You have repeatedly said that you are among the greatest presidents of all time. "I've always said that I can be more presidential than any president in history, except the honest Abe Lincoln, when he wears the hat," Trump said in 2019. In a speech at the United Nations in 2018, Trump said, "in less than more than two years my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.
Now ask yourself this: Is there ANY chance that Trump didn't mean it when he told Noem that her "dream" was to be on Mount Rushmore? What if there was ANY way for it to happen, would he take the opportunity?
(Side comment: In fact, there is no more room for Trump, or any other presidential chief, on Mount Rushmore. "There is no more room to carve into the sculpture," said Maureen McGee-Ballinger, public information officer at Mount Rushmore, to the Argus Leader . "When you look at the sculpture, it seems like there may be a space to the left next to Washington or right next to Lincoln. (In that case) or you are looking at the rock beyond the sculpture (to the right), which is an optical illusion, or to the left, which cannot be carved », he explained)
Of course, there are other mountains ...
I'm kidding, but not quite! From his interest in buying Greenland to his push for a military parade in central Washington, Trump has tried (or at least considered) doing things that presidents just, well, don't do. Given all that history, it would be insane to think that Trump would not seriously consider having his face carved on a mountain somewhere in America.
In fact, Noem has already told Trump.
Come pick a mountain, he told her during that visit to the Oval Office.
Rushmore
