Trump: America is 'in a Culture War,' Republicans Need to 'Toughen Up'
President urges his party to stand firm against far-left pushing 'cancel culture'
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President Donald Trump has slammed the "cancel culture" being pushed by the radical left, urging his fellow Republicans to "toughen up."
The president warned that America is in the midst of a "culture war" as the far-left Black Lives Matter movement continues to dominate the political debate.
Trump is urging his party to stand firm against left-wing causes or they may end up on the losing side this November.
In a new interview with published Wednesday, the president reiterated some of the ideas he put forward during his Mount Rushmore speech on July 3.
President Trump slammed the “new far-left fascism” during the address.
He also rejected what he called a “left-wing cultural revolution” that he warned is threatening American civilization.
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“We are in a culture war,” Trump told RealClear Politics.
“If the Republicans don't toughen up and get smart and get strong and protect our heritage and protect our country, I think they're going to have a very tough election.”
During his Mount Rushmore speech, Trump specifically called out protesters seeking to remove statues of American Founding Fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were slave owners.
What had begun as a push to eradicate memorials of the Confederacy expanded to include the former presidents.
The calls have even targetted President Abraham Lincoln, who led the country during the Civil War and famously ended slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation.
He also pushed back against “cancel culture,” wherein people have been shaming others for past social media posts they disagree with.
In some cases, activists are threatening people's livelihoods by trying to use the posts to get them fired from their jobs.
“This is the very definition of totalitarianism,” Trump said.
“It is completely alien to our culture and our values, and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America.”
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That same message against cancel culture was recently put forth by well-known liberal writers and activists who warned that their fellow leftists were going too far, according to Fox News.
A letter published in Harper’s Magazine that was signed by notable figures including author J.K. Rowling, activist Gloria Steinem, and linguist Noam Chomsky.
It states that liberals have exhibited “an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty.”
