Interior Secretary Doug Burgum joined CNN’s State of the Union this morning, where he fought off accusations from host Dana Bash about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Burgum was also pressed on the reflecting pool in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, where he debunked the same lies being peddled by the leftist media.
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Bash kicked off the interview segment by falsely claiming that algae has returned to the pool and that “chunks of paint are peeling off the floor.”
Of course, she has no idea what she’s talking about, as the “chunks of paint” are actually the rubber sealant that has been vandalized and destroyed by leftists. At least 14 people have been issued citations for vandalism, and some face criminal charges that carry up to 10 years in prison. Additionally, as Greenwater Services spokeswoman Erin Kramer revealed in an exclusive interview with The Gateway Pundit last month, all of the algae has been killed using 100% natural ozone nanobubble technology.
“The algae is all gone,” Burgum said. “The new technology, the nano-bubblers that have been installed, if you go down there today and look at it, it is completely clean and clear.”
“This was an industrial liner that was put into the pool for the very first time, multiple layers, fixing 2.5 miles of expansion joints,” Burgum continued as Bash interrupted, asserting, “But it peeled off. Why did that happen? Do you know?”
“It didn’t peel off. There was vandalism. There was box cutters. There have been seven arrests. There was people literally trying to destroy part of a monument. The Reflecting Pool is not just a pool on the Mall,” Burgum responded. Bash then interrupted again as Burgum tried to make the inconvenient point that the destruction of the lining is “no different than if someone was throwing paint…”
She attempted to deny that vandalism ever occurred, and that the industrial sealant just peeled off in the stagnant water. “This is an industrial liner. Every farmer and rancher in America that’s had their pickup liner lined by this sprayed-on liner knows that you literally — literally, it would never just like peel off or fall off. This is, like, a strong material,” Burgum argued.
The Interior Department released footage of the vandals last Tuesday.
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Still, Bash continued attempting to pin the damage on the Trump Administration, claiming that Trump actually created the damages when his motorcade, which she said weighs “up to 20,000 pounds,” drove across the empty pool prior to it being refilled. But Burgum said that the President used a Cadillac Escalade instead of his armored fleet of cars, including the Beast limousine, as Bash claimed. And he revealed that whether driving over the pool could damage the lining was “one of the questions we asked before we even brought the presidential motorcade there, but not a chance.”
Bash then tried again to criticize the Department of Justice over the grand jury indictment of three-time Olympic canoeist David Hearn, defending his alleged vandalism of the reflecting pool. Hearn faces up to ten years in prison after a grand jury in the DC Superior Court returned the indictment.
“He says he didn’t do anything other than reach into the Reflecting Pool and look at and pull out and look at a piece of the liner that had already been cut,” Bash said of Hearn. “Do you really think he should face a 10-year prison sentence for doing this? This is somebody who competed for America and did extremely well there and is saying he didn’t do anything wrong,” she continued, implying he deserves special treatment because he’s an Olympian.
But Burgum hilariously told her there’s no double standard for the athlete, stating, “You can be a former governor, you can be a former this, you can be a former that, but just because you were a former something doesn’t exclude you from the law today.” He continued, “he can say what he wants to say. I wasn’t there. I was not an eyewitness. I mean, the courts will decide… if people are defaming our monuments, they should face the consequences of that, so the courts will decide.”
Before ending the interview, Burgum further slammed Bash and her fake news colleagues for “myopically” focusing on the Reflecting Pool as Bash tried to justify the spotlight and claim she’s just “asking questions” of our leaders.
Hey, didn’t these people ignore every scandal under Biden?
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Transcript via CNN:
BASH: I want to ask you about the Reflecting Pool, because we spoke about a month ago. And the $16 million no-bid contract to renovate the Reflecting Pool was something you called fantastic, and you certainly defended the expediting contract in order to try to get it fixed in time for July 4.
Now, of course, chunks of paint are peeling off the floor. The algae has returned. What went wrong?
BURGUM: Well, the algae is all gone. I mean, that was a momentary thing. As they — as it was being refilled, there was algae in the pipes. But the new technology, the nano-bubblers that have been installed, if you go down there today and look at it, it is completely clean and clear.
And so for the first time there’s actual an solution that involves making sure that we have got an algae-free pond. It keeps being reported that this was paint. It was not paint. This was an industrial liner that was put into the pool for the very first time, multiple layers fixing, 2.5 miles of expansion.
BASH: But it peeled off. Why did that happen? Do you know?
BURGUM: It didn’t peel off. There was there was vandalism. There was box cutters. There have been seven arrests. There was people literally trying to destroy part of a monument, the Reflecting Pool. It’s not just a pool on the Mall.
It is part of the Lincoln Memorial. And if anybody says that they’re going to go and vandalize that, it’s no different than if someone was throwing paint…
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: And you’re 100 percent sure that what happened with the liner was vandalism? You can prove it?
BURGUM: Oh, yes absolutely, Dana. And we drain it, and we have got all the photographs, we can see. I mean, there’s no possible way…
BASH: There are photographs of a person or people cutting a 300- or 350-foot gash in the bottom of the Reflecting Pool?
BURGUM: Dana, I’m not sure why you and others in the media think that you want to keep trying to question whether or not — think, this is an industrial liner.
Every farmer and rancher in America that’s had their pickup liner lined by this sprayed-on liner knows that you literally — literally, it would never just like peel off or fall off. This is, like, a strong material.
BASH: Yes.
BURGUM: And it’s the size of eight football fields. And the only way you can end up with actual slices in one spot and not the other is that someone physically cut it.
And so the — but the pool itself, it’s not leaking. It was leaking 45,000 gallons a day. It’s finally been fixed by President Trump. And the American flag blue is working perfectly. And, again, it’s beyond me why — I mean, the real scandal is about the fact that the state of our capital was in such total disrepair that some people…
BASH: Yes.
BURGUM: No one was reporting about the pro-Hamas graffiti on the…
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Mr. Secretary, you and I talked about this last month.
BURGUM: And we’re still talking about it.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Well, because it’s — it was July 4, and the Reflecting Pool was closed.
BURGUM: It was closed because it’s surrounded by fireworks. It’s closed every year on the Fourth of July.
BASH: But it was closed prior to that in order to fix the Reflecting Pool.
But I do want…
BURGUM: No, it was closed because the fire — the largest fireworks display in the country was set up, and it lines either side of the Reflecting Pool. You can’t have people around fireworks when they’re being set up.
BASH: I just want to ask you…
BURGUM: Now that the fireworks will come down, the fence will come down. The fence was there because of the fireworks.
BASH: Copy that.
I just want to ask you about one other potential issue here. In May, the president’s armored motorcade of SUVs, which would — can weigh up to 20,000 pounds, drove across that new coating of the Reflecting Pool’s floor. Could that have damaged it?
BURGUM: No. I was with him when we came that night. He didn’t take the beast.
We were driving in a Cadillac Escalade. It is one of the presidential fleet of cars, but substantially lighter than what you’re talking about. And at the time that we were there, they were still putting down — the whole base level of this industrial rubber layer was not yet completed, and so there was no damage that night whatsoever.
That was one of the questions we asked before we even brought the presidential motorcade there, but not a chance.
BASH: How much is it going to cost to fix? And are you going to use the same company that you did in the no-bid contract, or will you open it up to new bids?
[09:10:01] BURGUM: We will use the same company because they did a fantastic job.
I mean, if — even with this damage of the gash that we’re talking about, you’re talking about, again, this is — the size of eight football fields. It is eight acres, and we’re talking about like .001 percent.
Thankfully, the vandalism was small. It was — it was bad. I mean, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair, so then it could fall into a felony — felony thing, just like damaging any other government property could.
But it is a — this is — the job that was done to fix the Reflecting Pool was done extremely well, and hopefully we can move on to this and just talk about how we continue to do things like take care of the — this is a deferred maintenance problem. We have deferred maintenance problems across our parks.
President Trump is ready to sign the Great American Outdoors Act, which would bring the dollars to help fix all of our parks, not just ones like the National Mall, which is free, but help bring that across the country.
BASH: Can I just ask you about the vandalism? There is an Olympian, David Hearn, who was indicted for vandalism. The maximum sentence is 10 years in prison. He says he didn’t do anything other than reach into the Reflecting Pool and look at and pull out and look at a piece of the liner that had already been cut.
Do you really think he should face a 10-year prison sentence for doing this? This is a somebody who competed for America and did extremely well there and is saying he didn’t do anything wrong.
BURGUM: You can be a former governor, you can be a former this, you can be a former that, but just because you were a former something doesn’t exclude you from the law today.
BASH: Yes, that’s fair. But he says he didn’t do anything to actually hurt it other than pick it up because it was already peeling.
BURGUM: Well, he can say what he wants to say. I wasn’t there. I was not an eyewitness. I mean, the courts will decide.
But I think the law stands. That is a law that exists, and it should be — again, if people are damaging federal government property, if people are defaming our monuments, they should face the consequences of that. So the courts will decide.
BASH: Secretary Burgum, happy 250. Thank you so much for everything, and appreciate you coming in after very little sleep.
BURGUM: Well, and I appreciate it. And I would love to come on some time and actually talk about the great things going on in America, as opposed to this myopic focus on a single one.
We restored 48 monuments…
BASH: Yes.
BURGUM: … 22 fountains, eliminated 1,000 graffiti sites. The Capitol’s looking better than ever, and I’m not — I can’t understand why people want to keep talking about the beautiful, beautiful Reflecting Pool.
BASH: I take your point. I take your point. And I think the answer is because the president sets the tone, and he talks about it nonstop because he was so proud of it, which is why we’re following up on what you did to try to fix it.
BURGUM: And he should be proud of it because no one has fixed up our capital more than President Trump has during the time he’s been here. He’s shown the pride that he has in America. He’s shown that as a country we can stand and think about our future.
This is the kickoff of our 250th year. President Trump, in those three speeches that I saw him give the last few days, he was — you know, incredible respect for the past, gratitude for the present and all the people that are great, including our military, our law enforcement.
And then he gave a — in all three speeches in the last four days inspiration for the future. That’s something that we should focus on, because the vast majority of Americans care deeply about this country, they care about their communities, they care about their families.
And that is absolutely something we celebrate. We are the freest, strongest country in the world. We should be celebrating that, versus folks focusing myopically on the few bad actors that may want to spoil the party.
BASH: Yes. I agree this is a wonderful country, and part of the country is to ask questions of people like you in power.
So thank you for coming on and participating in that.
BURGUM: Thank you, Dana.
The post WATCH: Interior Sec Doug Burgum Destroys Dana Bash as She Defends Reflecting Pool Vandal David Hearn, Claims that Lining “Peeled Off” and Was Damaged by Trump’s Motorcade appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.