(Washington) Under fire from critics for its silence on COVID's alarming figures - 19 in the United States, Donald Trump goes Friday to Mount Rushmore for an evening of fireworks that he hopes to be a moment of unity in a country that 'he struggles to gather.
Jerome CARTILLIER
France Media Agency
On the eve of the national holiday on July 4, the Republican President will speak under the gaze of four of his distant predecessors - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln - whose monumental heads have were carved out of granite in this imposing memorial.
The republican billionaire, who leaves his vice-president Mike Pence in the front line in front of the spectacular rebound of the epidemic which darkens the summer of the Americans, does not hide his enthusiasm for this event for which some 7500 people are expected.
"This is going to be an amazing evening, with fireworks like few people have seen," he predicted on Thursday. "It will be magnificent!" "
Will he talk about the resurgence of COVID cases - 19 in the south and west which "puts the whole country in danger" in the words of Anthony Fauci, director of the American Institute of Infectious Diseases? Will he finally wear a mask in public to set an example as demanded by many elected officials and personalities, including in his own camp?
In bad shape in polls four months before the presidential election, the republican billionaire is sticking to one message for the time being: the coronavirus crisis is "managed", the American economy leaves "stronger and faster" than expected and the year 2021 will be "historic".
Yet in stark contrast to Europe, contamination records are broken daily in the United States.
Many states have put deconfinement on hold, even backtracking, hastily closing bars and beaches. The Republican Governor of Texas has announced that wearing a mask will now be mandatory in public places.
At the start of this long holiday weekend, former Democratic President Barack Obama called for a start. "Defeating this virus will require everyone's mobilization. Wear a mask. Wash your hands, "he tweeted. "And listen to the experts, not those who are trying to divide us."
"No social distancing"
The White House tenant can expect a warm welcome in South Dakota, a sparsely populated state he won in 2016 with over 60 % voices.
And Republican Governor Kristi Noem has no intention of spoiling the party.
"We have told those who are worried that they can stay at home," she said on Fox News. "For those who want to join us, we will distribute free masks, if they decide to wear one. But there will be no social distancing. "
PHOTO ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS, V
Supporters of Donald Trump awaited his arrival along a road on Friday in Keystone.
This will be the first fireworks display on this site in a decade. They were interrupted in 2010 for fear of forest fires.
Representatives of Sioux tribes announced demonstrations to protest against the organization of this evening in the Black Hills mountains - where the heads were carved from 1927 at 1941 - which they consider sacred.
Donald Trump has long talked to him about his fascination with Mount Rushmore. In 2017, he even jokingly mentioned the possibility that his face would be added to it one day. Beyond all political considerations, however, it is unlikely to happen.
"From time to time, individuals or organizations offer to add new busts [...] but this is not possible", explains to AFP Dana Soehn, spokesperson for this Park national.
"The rock that is around the faces [des présidents] does not allow additional sculpture", she explains, recalling also that the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, wanted to represent the ideals of 150 first years of American history - birth, growth, development, preservation - and that his work has therefore been completed.
The Lincoln Project, a group formed by fiercely anti-Trump Republicans, also took up the issue in its own way.
In a video released on the eve of this controversial move, he highlighted a few famous phrases uttered by Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln to emphasize the indelible trace they left. And to further contrast with what they consider to be "the worst president" in history.
