'Mount Rushmore' is 'offensive' because it was built 'on top of dead bodies' says ESPN’s Jalen Rose

ESPN sports analyst Jalen Rose said people need to stop saying "Mount Rushmore" because it is an "offensive" term referencing a monument built "on top of dead bodies."

Rose, a former professional basketball player, said last week that "using Mount Rushmore to define greatness should be retired immediately." 

He tweeted a video explaining why the term is similar to the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians, both team names that have been changed.

"Can we retire 'Mount Rushmore'? That should be offensive to all of us, especially Native Americans and indigenous people," he said.

Mount Rushmore was built on land "stolen" from Native Americans "when it was discovered that it contained gold," Rose said. 

The iconic monument, which is carved into South Dakota's Black Hills on land sacred to the Lakota Sioux, features the faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

"And 25 years later, to add insult to injury, four American presidents were put on what we call Mount Rushmore on the top of the dead bodies that is buried right underneath," he said.

Rose urged viewers to "stop using the term 'Mount Rushmore'" when discussing their favorite rappers, movies or sports players.

South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem defended her state's landmark.

"The four men on Mount Rushmore were amazing, flawed American leaders who helped make America what it is today — the greatest country the world has ever known. To the woke leftists obsessed with attacking these leaders, I’ve got news for you: not on my watch," she wrote on Twitter.