U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Sunday that federal authorities had no grounds to intervene when a white supremacist organization staged a march through Washington on the Fourth of July, pointing to constitutional free speech protections.
Hundreds of masked members of Patriot Front marched through the nation’s capital on Independence Day without violating any laws, Burgum stated during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. While he made clear that the group’s white supremacist and anti-immigrant views are “nothing that I could possibly agree with,” Burgum maintained that such ideology is still protected speech, even if it “makes democracy messy.”
Burgum drew a parallel to anti-Trump demonstrators on Washington’s National Mall, saying those protesters also exercise the same rights — “yet they’re allowed to go on because of free speech in our country.”
The group itself has publicly rejected democratic ideals. A manifesto posted on Patriot Front’s website declares that “Democracy has failed this once great nation” and calls for a “hard reset” to “return to the traditions and virtues of our forefathers” — whom the group identifies as European settlers.
During their march, Patriot Front members moved to the beat of drummers near the U.S. Capitol and the Union Station transit center before boarding Metro trains to a suburb of the District of Columbia.
When asked whether he personally condemned Patriot Front or would urge President Donald Trump to do the same, Burgum declined to answer directly. He instead minimized the march’s significance, framing it as an isolated incident amid the broader celebrations marking the country’s 250th anniversary.
Burgum also addressed the Trump administration’s efforts to improve Washington’s landmarks. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” he said the administration has already restored dozens of monuments and fountains throughout the city.
“When we look in context, President Trump set out to make D.C. safe and beautiful,” Burgum said. “He’s done that.”
Among the most talked-about projects is a $14.7 million renovation of the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial — a project that drew scrutiny after algae growth, peeling surfaces, and visible decay appeared just weeks after the work was finished.
Burgum repeated President Trump’s unverified assertion that vandals used box cutters to slash the pool’s new liner, creating gashes hundreds of feet in length. He also defended the decision to bring back the same company that handled the original renovation — awarded through a no-bid contract — to carry out the repairs, saying the firm did “a fantastic job” on the initial project.
