Amid a pandemic, the site of Trump’s Rushmore speech is packed well before it’s supposed to begin

not a mask to be seen

Trump mimics fishing

"Despite the fact that you may see pictures where they may not be wearing masks or being 6 feet apart, people are taking precautious" -- Fox News's coverage of Trump's Rushmore rally is beyond parody

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem mentions that "we have been witnessing a very troubling situation unfold" in America in recent weeks and turns out she's talking about [checks notes] threats to monuments, not the ongoing pandemic

Noem introduces Trump by claiming he "spends himself in a worthy cause" and places "the American Constitution before anything else." #UpIsDown

I'm still not sure Trump knows what a virus does

Trump is having a hard time speaking tonight

A somnambulant Trump tries to frame the threat against monuments as the biggest danger America faces right now

Trump mangles the word "totalitarianism"

Trump offers some remarkably overheated rhetoric: "There is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance ... this left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American revolution"

Trump is still out here talking about monuments. With the economy in shambles and a pandemic ravaging the country, it appears he wants to make this election about statutes.

"Ulyssesius S Grant"

Trump is very low energy tonight and his audience is sitting in silence

Trump short-circuits when he tries to say "Jefferson"

Trump is out here reading Thomas Jefferson's Wikipedia page in a monotone

some high-risk reading here from Trump

Trump is very stiff tonight. If people traveled to South Dakota expecting to get the Trump rally experience, it isn't really happening.

Trump botches the word "founding"

For the second time in this speech, Trump shouts out someone named "Ulyssesius S Grant"

Trump is now just naming random famous Americans

This man is *obsessed* with statues. Nobody cares about American/Confederate statutes more than Donald J Trump

Trump's sleepy 3rd of July Rushmore paean to inanimate objects ends with him desecrating one of the greatest rock n' roll songs of all time as he leaves the stage

What is she thinking?

You can’t make this stuff up https://twitter.com/brooklynmutt/status/1279259762010591232