South Dakota AG: Mount Rushmore Was Meant to ‘Honor America’, Not Desecrate Native Land

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg defended Mount Rushmore on Friday ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the site for an Independence Day celebration. The Republican dismissed Native American complaints that the monument had desecrated their sacred land.

Ravnsborg batted away suggestions that Mount Rushmore is a symbol of white supremacy on Fox & Friends.

“Well, I guess I completely disagree,” he said. “Each of the presidents were picked for a specific reason. President Washington for, obviously, the birth of our nation. President Jefferson for the growth of our nation. President Lincoln for the development of our nation, and Teddy Roosevelt for the preservation of our nation.”

Ravnsborg appeared to be reading from a piece a paper while explaining why each president was on the mountain.

“This is a symbol of American exceptionalism. And I believe that there is no way a symbol of white supremacy,” he said.

He went on to dismiss Native American concerns about Mount Rushmore, which is on land stolen from local tribes.

“Well, that obviously has been a dispute over the years since the time about 1876,” Ravnsborg said. “But that case has actually been litigated to the United States Supreme Court. We’re sympathetic to their feelings on the issue but I do believe that it was not meant to desecrate the land but to honor America and honor our state of South Dakota.”

Watch the video above, via Fox News.