Udall Statement on President's Announced Plan to Deliver Nomination Speech from Gettysburg or White House

Statement

Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, issued the following statement after President Trump tweeted that he plans to deliver his Republican National Convention speech either from the White House or from a battlefield at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania:

"I am appalled that the president is once again planning to use our national park system, including the hallowed ground of a national battlefield, as a stage for his flailing campaign. It is beyond inappropriate that the president would suggest using Gettysburg -- land that belongs to, and is cherished by, the American people -- to hold a campaign event as he seeks to further divide this country. Whether it's sitting for a Fox News interview at the Lincoln Memorial or giving a campaign speech on a venerated battlefield, the president continues to show that he simply does not revere or respect the shared places that Americans hold sacred, nor the values that these places represent. Instead of dishonoring the sacrifice of those who gave their lives at Gettysburg so that our nation might live united, the president should read the Gettysburg Address to understand how a president is supposed to lead -- and why his embrace of the Confederacy is a mistake."

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