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The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, seized the 250th anniversary of the Independence of the United States to deliver a strong ideological message from Mount Rushmore, where he participated in the program hosted by Sean Hannity, broadcast live on Fox News, and drew a clear line between the conservatism of the Founding Fathers and what he deemed the regressive socialism of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
In his statements from Keystone, South Dakota, DeSantis was emphatic about the origin of rights: "They come from God, period. There's no more debate about that. Government must be limited or not exist at all. If it is, then we must always have a limited government."
The governor directed his criticisms straight at Mamdani, the socialist mayor who had delivered a speech the previous day at New York City Hall criticizing immigration agents, Elon Musk, and the oligarchs.
"When I see the Mamdani of the world, they are essentially offering these ideas. They claim to be progressive. In reality, they are regressive. These are things that the Founding Fathers rejected," said DeSantis on Hannity's program from Mount Rushmore.
For DeSantis, the 250th anniversary is an opportunity to reclaim a historical heritage that he considers exceptional: "We were fortunate to have Founding Fathers who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in the way that they did and when they did."
Hours earlier, on his X account, the governor had summed up his stance with a phrase that went viral: "On the 250th anniversary of America, be a Coolidge, not a Mamdani."
The reference to Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States and a symbol of Republican conservatism due to his advocacy for limited government and tax reduction, encapsulates the contrast that DeSantis establishes between the founding tradition and the democratic socialism represented by Mamdani.
Mamdani took office as mayor of New York on January 1, 2026, after winning the elections on November 4, 2025, with 50.4% of the votes.
A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, he is the city's first Muslim mayor and of South Asian descent, as well as the youngest since 1892. Upon taking office, he stated: "I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist."
Mount Rushmore was also the setting for the speech that Donald Trump delivered on the evening of July 3rd, in which he described communism as "the greatest threat to our country, even more than World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or 9/11."
He also stated that "you can be loyal to Karl Marx or you can be loyal to the United States, you cannot be both."
The event was organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership connected to the White House, and included a flyover by F-35 fighter jets from the South Dakota National Guard.
The political context of the anniversary reflects a deep fracture in American society: according to a Gallup poll published around that date, eight out of ten citizens believe that the Founding Fathers would not be proud of the current state of the country, and 59% feel that the nation's best years are behind it.
DeSantis concluded his speech with a reflection on the historical legacy that, in his view, Americans must reclaim: "We have the opportunity now, with the 250th anniversary, to look back and say that we are inheritors of an extraordinarily good legacy."
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