'Algae-filled sluice of despair': Rick Wilson slams the Reflecting Pool blame game

After President Donald Trump reported cases of vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt jumped straight into defending his claims as she returned to work after maternity leave. Trump on Tuesday claimed six people have been arrested for damaging the iconic Washington, D.C. site as his $14-million-plus renovation project came under fire following an algae bloom and reports of the American Flag Blue coating peeling. As Leavitt claimed the vandals were radical leftists, a political commentator mocked her defense, saying the GOP has made an "algae-filled sluice of despair" their hill to die on.

"The vandalism is very real, despite what Tim Walz wants to say: 'It's an imaginary problem.' No, it is not. It's a very real problem," Leavitt said on Fox News, referring to outgoing Minnesota governor and Trump critic Tim Walz. who claimed Trump had created an imaginary problem to defend his project. "In fact, I spoke with the National Park Service just before joining the show; they now have 17 police reports that have been filed in just a matter of a few days," Leavitt continued. She further claimed there had been six arrests till Monday, and many of the vandals are "longtime donors to the Democratic Party, Barack Obama, and Act Blue."

Sharing a clip of her comments on X, Wilson, a political strategist and former member of the Republican Party, wrote: "Amazing how this is the hill they're willing to die on. And by 'hill,' I mean algae-filled sluice of despair." 

Leavitt did not go into further detail about who the people were, but warned that the president won't stop with his effort to hold those vandals accountable and restore the pool to its former glory, just in time to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday next week. Leavitt's comments were echoed by Trump on Tuesday, who claimed the 350-foot gash at the bottom of the pool was done purposefully. "It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition," Trump wrote Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, authorities have not released a full roster of the detained individuals, but the identity of one of the arrested individuals, David Hearn, a 67-year-old former U.S. Olympic canoeist from Bethesda, Maryland, has been made public. Hearn was arrested on misdemeanor charges for allegedly vandalizing the pool, but he denied all allegations, claiming he reached into the waters only out of curiosity and didn't touch the paint at all. "There's no basis for this. We're going to contest it vigorously," Hearn's attorney, Norm Eisen, said, sitting alongside him in an interview on MS NOW. "It's not a federal crime to touch water."

As Trump announced that repairs will be made and the pool will possibly be drained again, workers of the Interior Department on Tuesday were seen adding fencing around the Reflecting Pool. “With the increase in vandalism by leftist activists, the fencing is going up earlier than originally planned to ensure no more damage is done to this historic site,” an Interior Department spokesperson told The Hill. It is usual for fencing to be added to Fourth of July celebrations to ensure public safety.