President Donald Trump in a Tuesday speech returned to the theme of preserving history, saying statues of Christopher Columbus and Christmas could hang in the balance.
"Everyone here [Tuesday night] is united by the same enduring beliefs," Trump said at a Heritage Foundation dinner at the Washington, D.C., Marriott Marquis. "We believe that the Constitution is the greatest political document in human history, and that judges should interpret the Constitution as written."
Further, he said, "We believe we should preserve our history, not tear it down. Now they are even trying to destroy statues of Christopher Columbus. What's next? Has to be stopped, it's heritage."
New York City police officers stood guard around the statue at Columbus Circle of the famed explorer this past Columbus Day amid threats against it. Protesters over the past few months have pulled down statues of Confederate generals and soldiers, and some local governments have had them removed.
Trump previously defended the statues in a series of tweets in August.
At the Heritage speech, he also reiterated his support for saying "Merry Christmas" as the season approaches.
"You will be saying Merry Christmas again," the president said. "You go to the stores and they have the red walls, and they have the snow, and they even have the sleigh and the whole thing. They don't have Merry Christmas. . . . I want them to say Merry Christmas, everybody. Happy New Year, Happy Holidays, but I want every Christmas. We will say it again."
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