U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated that a white supremacist group’s July 4 rally in Washington is protected by free speech, despite the group’s ideology being at odds with his own values.
Free Speech Protections
Burgum told CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ program that the hundreds of masked Patriot Front members who marched through the nation’s capital on Independence Day did nothing illegal. He emphasized that the organization’s white supremacist, anti-immigrant ideology is ‘nothing that I could possibly agree with,’ but it is protected free speech, even if it ‘makes democracy messy.’
Patriot Front itself has criticized democracy, with a manifesto on the group’s website stating that ‘democracy has failed this once great nation,’ and a ‘hard reset’ is needed to ‘return to the traditions and virtues of our forefathers,’ identifying them as European settlers.
Context and Reactions
Burgum declined to say whether he condemned Patriot Front or would recommend that President Trump condemn it. He downplayed the group’s march as an aberration among July 4 events commemorating the country’s 250th anniversary.
The Trump administration’s renovation work throughout Washington was also discussed, with Burgum mentioning the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool, which had algae growth, peeling surface material, and visible deterioration just weeks after the rehabilitation work was completed.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
