Governor Kirsti Noem, R-S.D., defended Mt. Rushmore against an activist group funded by a Target nonprofit foundation that called the monument a “symbol of white supremacy.”
In an interview with Fox & Friends host Steve Doocey, Noem said that Americans can’t shop at Target anymore because it is “fundamentally tearing down this country.”
“We have to have real conversations about how serious we are about protecting our freedom,” the South Dakota governor continued.
Last month, Target released a new Pride Month collection that led to backlash from conservatives and a call for a boycott. When the company pulled pieces from the line in response, LGBTQ supporters criticized the company for caving to right-wing protests.
Since then, the company’s market value, losing $1 billion dollars to date, according to Daily Mail.
The “LANDBACK” movement started by Target’s South Dakota-based nonprofit, NDN Collective, campaigned for America to give up public land.
"The closure of Mount Rushmore, return of that land and all public lands in the Black Hills, South Dakota is our cornerstone battle," NDN said. "It is an international symbol of White supremacy and colonization.”
NDN Collective was founded by Target in 2022. According to its website, NDN is "dedicated to building Indigenous power [t]hrough organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking… and narrative change” by operating through a "racial equity lens.”
Noem retaliated by saying that Mt. Rushmore represented all that America stands for.
"This is a very extreme organization that's raising these dollars from nonprofits, such as Target's, and going forward and buying land and using it to infiltrate our American way of life and our value system," said Noem.