Gov. Kristi Noem is calling out Target for supporting a group that is pushing to shut down Mount Rushmore.
The South Dakota Republican joined "Fox & Friends" Wednesday to respond to the landmark being called a "symbol of White supremacy" by an activist group that receives funding from Target's nonprofit foundation.
"That store is fundamentally tearing down this country and we have to have real conversations about how serious we are about protecting our freedom."
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The governor was asked about Fox News Digital revealing that Target, via its nonprofit foundation, which has been directed by the retail giant's senior corporate treasurers, funded a grantee pushing to shut down and give away U.S. sovereign land such as Mount Rushmore – believing it to be an "international symbol of White supremacy" and to demilitarize the "violent" U.S. military.
The same grantee also supports the destruction of Israel's Jewish character through what is called the Palestinian "Law of Return" and implementing economic warfare tactics against the Jewish State, such as boycotts and sanctions, to "Free Palestine."
The Target Foundation's webpage reflected that it funded the NDN Collective in 2022, a South Dakota-based nonprofit with a revenue stream that has reached as high as $50M+, according to its 2021 tax filing. NDN operates with a "racial equity lens" and is "dedicated to building Indigenous power [t]hrough organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking… and narrative change."
NDN identifies as "intersectional," which is an idea coined by a critical race theorist, Kimberlé Crenshaw, holding that America is inborn with structurally racist and misogynistic systems, and they can intersect upon an individual to form numerous layers of persecution. By joining forces with other oppressed groups, NDN hopes to move towards "liberation."
The organization's campaign "LANDBACK" called for America to give up its public land.
"The closure of Mount Rushmore, return of that land and all public lands in the Black Hills, South Dakota is our cornerstone battle," NDN said. "Not only does Mount Rushmore sit in the heart of the sacred Black Hills, but it is an international symbol of White supremacy and colonization. To truly dismantle white supremacy and systems of oppression, we have to go back to the roots. Which, for us, is putting Indigenous Lands back in Indigenous hands."
Fox News Digital asked Target how they can proclaim to support veterans in corporate announcements, while also funding an "anti-military" organization, but did not receive a response. NDN also did not respond to a request for comment.
Noem said Mount Rushmore has "long been an institution of what America stands for."
"This is a very extreme organization that's raising these dollars from nonprofits, such as Target's, and going forward and buying land and using it to infiltrate our American way of life and our value system," said Noem.
"I'm like a lot of Americans who love to shop at Target … but we just can't anymore."
Fox News' Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.
