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South Dakota state rep calls Mount Rushmore a ‘Freemason shrine,’ ‘demonic portal’ for communism — and his revelation came from ‘The Lord’

By
Patrick Reilly
Published June 28, 2023
Updated June 28, 2023, 7:15 p.m. ET

A South Dakota state representative bizarrely claimed that the state’s Mount Rushmore is a “Freemason shrine,” and a demonic portal for communism.

Joe Donnell, who represents South Dakota’s District One in the state legislature, said during an appearance on the Now Is The Time podcast that his oddball revelation about the iconic national monument came from “The Lord.”

“If you go back and do some history on Mount Rushmore, it actually is a Freemason shrine,” Donnell says in a viral video clip of the podcast posted by Right Wing Watch.

“What the Lord has revealed to me is that Mount Rushmore has a direct ley line to Washington, DC.”

Donnell then went on to explain the nefarious significance of a “ley line” — which is described as a path of spiritual energy that passes from one place to another.

“In order to understand the spiritual realm of what we’re facing, we have to realize that in order for the enemy to do anything, it needs the agreement of human beings. In order to be empowered to do more damage he needs the agreement of human beings and oftentimes that comes in the form of an altar that acts as a portal for demonic things,” he continues.

Joe Donnell made the puzzling remarks during an appearance on the Now Is The Time podcast.
Joe Donnell made the puzzling remarks during an appearance on the Now Is The Time podcast. Twitter / RightWingWatch

“What we’re really dealing with in that portal is communism. That witchcraft, altar, those things that are happening in the Black Hills, what we’re dealing with is communism. It’s the ideology and all the demonic entities and spirits behind that,” he says.

Donnell is a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe, according to KELO. The land on which Mount Rushmore was built is considered sacred by local Native Americans.

Mount Rushmore, which was completed in 1941, features the immense faces of former Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt carved into the granite mountainside

Washington and Roosevelt were Freemasons, an international fraternal organization dating back hundreds of years, according to the Museum of Freemasonry.

Mount Rushmore
The National Parks Service denied a Fourth of July fireworks display at the monument following objections from Native Americans. Getty Images

The monument’s sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, was also a Freemason. The organization has long been a target for conspiracy theorists.

A phone number listed on Donnell’s state legislature page was not accepting calls. The Post has emailed Donnell’s office for clarification on his comments.

Donnell made the head-scratching remarks during an interview with Now is The Time host Meri Crouley in a podcast episode titled “State Representative Joe Donnell From South Dakota Sharing Vital Info About Heavens Opening.”

Donnell was promoting the religious event “Open the Heavens: Let God Arise” in Rapid City, where he was listed as a guest speaker.

Crouley regularly delves into conspiracy theories on her show like the deep state, COVID-19 vaccines and former President Donald Trump’s indictments, KELO reported.

Earlier this year, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order declaring June 3, 2023, as “Open the Heavens Day.” 

The South Dakota Democratic Party Chair Jennifer Slaight-Hansen wrote a letter to the governor in response to the video clip and asked that she renounce Donnel’s comments.

“I have two questions: 1) is Governor Noem in agreement with Rep. Donnell’s statement that Mt. Rushmore is a portal that is spreading communism throughout America, and 2) if not, will she publicly repudiate him?,” Slaight-Hansen said in the letter, obtained by the outlet.

Donnell’s comments come as the National Parks Service denied Gov. Noem’s request for a fireworks show at Mount Rushmore on the Fourth of July for the third year in a row amid objections from Native Americans who don’t want their land disturbed.

The land is sacred to the Lakota Sioux tribe, who refer to the area in their language as “Paha Sapa,” or “the heart of everything that is.” 

Donnell was first elected to the state legislature in Nov. 2022.

He had run for the District 1 Senate seat but lost in the Republican primary. He was tapped by the state’s Republican Party to replace Logan Manhart on the 2022 general election ballot after Manhart withdrew from the race.