South Dakota Rep. Introduces Mount Rushmore Protection Act After Jalen Rose Calls It 'Offensive'

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Former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Jalen Rose recently tried to cancel Mount Rushmore with one of the most ridiculous rants of all time. South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson has responded by introducing a bill to protect the memorial.

Earlier this month, Rose called Mount Rushmore "offensive" while poorly explaining that the national memorial is racist.

"Can we retire using ‘Mount Rushmore?' That should be offensive to all of us, especially Native Americans, Indigenous people who were the first people here before Christopher Columbus," Rose said.

JALEN ROSE WANTS TO CANCEL MOUNT RUSHMORE

Mount Rushmore has been used as a common phrase for generations when debating the four greatest athletes, musicians, public figures, etc. but Rose decided now is the time to whine about it.

"So, I call for you and for myself — I'm owning this, too — let's stop using the term ‘Mount Rushmore' when we're talking about our favorite rappers, talking about our favorite movies, talking about our favorite players," Rose explained.

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(Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

Johnson, a Republican rep from Pierre, S.D., is getting ahead of Rose and anyone else in the woke mob who may try to cancel Mount Rushmore.

The Mount Rushmore Protection Act prohibits the use of federal funds "to alter, change, destroy or remove the likeness, the name of or any of the faces on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial," the bill reads, according to Fox News.

"Our nation has an imperfect past, but the calls to cancel Mount Rushmore will not move our nation forward. My legislation ensures the protection and beauty of Mount Rushmore for generations to come."

Shortly after Rose posted his rant to social media, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem responded to the ESPN analyst.

This isn't the first time Rose has jumped into topics outside the world of sports.

Last summer, Rose tried to opine on Jacob Blake during halftime of an NBA game with Stephen A. Smith. Rose declared that Wisconsin police had murdered an innocent and unarmed Jacob Blake. 

Jacob Blake is not dead, was not unarmed, and was not innocent but those important details don't fit Rose's agenda.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.