CNN Praised Mt. Rushmore When Obama Visited; Attacks When Trump Visits

CNN described Mount Rushmore as a “monument of two slave owners” on “land wrestled [sic] away from Native Americans” ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit there on Friday.

But in 2008, CNN marveled at the landmark when then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) visited Rushmore on the campaign trail.

In 2008, CNN anchor Ron Marciano said: “Barack Obama is campaigning in South Dakota. That state’s primary is Tuesday. Obama arrived there late last night and got a good look around Mt. Rushmore — it’s quite a sight if you haven’t seen it.”

Fellow anchor Betty Nguyen added: “Barack Obama is in South Dakota today. He arrived there last night. Take a look at this. He got a good glimpse of the majestic Mount Rushmore. Well, South Dakota and Montana have closed out the primary season on Tuesday.”

But on Friday, CNN described Rushmore in less glowing terms.

Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns said:

[A]t a time of racial unease, when protesters are tearing down statues of slaveholders and calling for the names of Confederate generals to be removed from army bases, the Rushmore event is a reminder that Trump is fighting to preserve these relics of heritage and history that some see as symbols of oppression. And to indigenous people, Mt. Rushmore, with four white presidents, two of whom were slave owners, is one of those symbols.

CNN interviewed Sioux Falls Argus Leader columnist Stu Whitney, who said:

I think that is a source of concern for people that see this certainly within a state with a Native American population nearly 10 percent and much higher in Rapid City, concerned about a place that has a lot of spiritual significance, And historical significance when you look at what they and most historians consider to be broken promises and broken treaties.

CNN correspondent Leyla Santiago reported on The Lead with Jake Tapper: “President Trump will be at Mt. Rushmore where he’ll be standing in front of a monument of two slave owners and on land wrestled away from Native Americans told that be focusing on the effort to, quote, tear down our country’s history.”

Update: CNN’s Jim Acosta called Rushmore a “fitting stop for a presidential contender” in 2008.

CNN was also upbeat about Mount Rushmore in 2016, when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) visited: