Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum sat down for a conversation with CNN host Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” where he set the record straight about why the new liner of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been peeling, stating that it’s clearly the result of left-wing vandalism. Bash tried her best during the exchange to craft a narrative that the work done on the reflecting pool was essentially botched and a waste of money.
Burgum was not having any of it. A video clip of the interview is going viral on social media platform X. Bash kicks off the conversation by asking Burgum why the liner peeled off. Burgum made it clear that it didn’t just peel off, but was likely cut by vandals. “It didn’t peel off. There was vandalism. There were box cutters. There have been seven arrests,” the secretary said.
“There were people literally trying to destroy part of the monument. The reflecting pool is not just a pool on the mall. It is part of the Lincoln Memorial. And if anybody says that they’re going to go and vandalize that, it’s no different than if someone was throwing –” Bash interrupted Burgum to ask him how sure he was the damage was the result of vandalism.
“You’re one-hundred percent sure that what happened with the liner was vandalism. You can prove it?” she asked the secretary. “Oh, you absolutely can. And as we drain it, we’ve got all the photographs. We can see, I mean, there’s no possible way –” Once again, Bash interrupted him, saying, “Photographs of a person or people cutting a 300 or 350-foot gash in the bottom of the reflecting pool?”
Secretary Burgum had, at that point, been rather docile while speaking with Bash, but that all changed with this question. With both proverbial barrels blazing, he replied, “Dana, I’m not sure why you and others in the media think that you want to keep trying to question whether or not that this is an industrial liner. Every farmer and rancher in America that’s had their pickup liner lined by the sprayed-on liner knows that it would literally never, just like, peel off or fall off.”
Former Olympic David Hearn was arrested and subsequently charged for vandalizing the pool, having been caught trying to rip up parts of the liner by security keeping an eye on the area. He, of course, denies any wrongdoing, suggesting he was just on a bike ride and wanted to see the pool as a “concerned citizens.” His arrest was captured on video, according to a report from the Dallas Express.
“This is a strong material,” Burgum said, adding, “And it’s the size of eight football fields. The only way you can end up with actual slices in one spot and not the other is that someone physically cut it, and so the pool itself, it’s not leaking. It was leaking 45,000 gallons a day. It’s finally been fixed by President Trump and the American flag blue is working perfectly.”
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The secretary then explained that the real controversy involving the president’s renovation projects is why the nation’s capital was left in such bad disrepair and no one talked about it in the media, nor did any politician take action to resolve the issue. He then tried to bring up the fact that there was pro-Hamas graffiti in areas of D.C. but Bash, apparently not wanting to hurt the feelings of the Islamic viewing audience, quickly cut him off, asking him questions about why the reflecting pool was closed on July 4, 2026.
“It was closed because it’s surrounded by fireworks. It’s closed every year on the Fourth of July,” he replied. Bash attempted to press the matter twice more and received a similar answer in what many are considering an attempt to change the subject. “Our boat was set up and it glides inside the reflecting pool. You can’t have people around fireworks while they’re being set up,” he said.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video