On Friday, US President Joe Biden rescinded a pair of executive orders signed by his predecessor Donald Trump to create a park to pay tribute to high-profile American from politicians to sports stars, according to Politico.
Biden's move puts an end to the “National Garden of American Heroes" plans announced 4 July 2020 at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
Trump conceived the park in response to protesters across the nation – spearheaded by the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM) – damaging statues of historical American figures they claim shouldn't be venerated.
Images circulated by the media at the time showed statues of America's founding fathers and numerous Confederate commanders from the US Civil War covered in paint and vandalised, with some totally destroyed.
Such attacks also happened in Europe and other parts of the world in the wake of the protests, triggered by the death of African American George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis on 25 May 2020.
Statues of Belgian King Leopold II, slave trader and philanthropist Edward Colston, and Christopher Columbus were all targeted.
Belgian prince defends King Leopold II after protesters deface statue
— 🟣 Evan Kirstel $B2B (@EvanKirstel) June 13, 2020
https://t.co/gs505IrwfD #Belgium pic.twitter.com/NXBA9jcK9z
"These statues are not ours alone, to be discarded at the whim of those inflamed by fashionable political passions; they belong to generations that have come before us and to generations yet unborn," read the text of Trump’s order, cited by Politico.
The Trump order directed the Justice Department to prioritise prosecutions of those suspected of vandalising federal monuments, according to the outlet.
The current move by Biden is just one of a plethora of decisions seeking to reverse Trump’s actions, taken immediately after he took office in January.
On his first day in the Oval Office, Biden signed 17 actions and orders, many reversing Trump-era orders or restoring those taken by Trump’s predecessor, ex-President Barack Obama.
Today, Joe Biden revoked Trump’s Executive order to create the “National Garden of American Heroes" which was going to be an outdoor park featuring statues of the “Greatest Americans to ever live.” pic.twitter.com/arlvstIyNu
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) May 14, 2021
Netizens responded to the report, decrying efforts to erase Trump's "good" actions.
Well of course he did. He has to try to erase anything good Trump did so the narrative fits better.
— 🎶Kellie Kellie Kellie🎶 (@kelliegirl1069) May 15, 2021
Disgusting
— 2020 (@dailyspread) May 14, 2021
His “handlers” did it!! He has NO idea what is going on!!!😡
— Daryn Richardson (@umpblue65) May 15, 2021
Biden cancelled the National Garden of American Heroes because he hates America, hates our history and is ok with the cancel culture tearing down America’s statues.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 15, 2021
Wow! It was a wonderful idea to honor our heroes.
— mfitzpatrick (@mfitzpa79792048) May 14, 2021
Well Joe doesn’t know he did that, joe don’t know.
— wtravispaine (@TPinBIGD) May 15, 2021
Insane and petty
— MisterDer (@MisterDer) May 15, 2021
