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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said the Trump administration turned the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “into a swamp” — comments that come in the wake of algae growth in the structure’s water.
“I mean, when you defund science research … when you don’t really understand the first thing about science,” Ocasio-Cortez said in response to a question about the Reflecting Pool asked by journalist Pablo Manríquez.
“Yeah, they talked a bunch of smack, they said that they had to repaint the pool, and now they’ve turned the place into a swamp. They turned it to an actual swamp,” she added in a video clip posted to social media on Tuesday.
The Trump administration recently completed renovations to the Reflecting Pool, including repainting its base a shade of blue to match the American flag. Sections of the paint, however, began peeling off the bottom shortly after the project finished.
The pool’s water also turned green after the renovations due to an algae bloom. In an effort to fight the algae, the National Park Service last week started using hydrogen peroxide and other tactics.
Two dead ducks were also recently found near the Reflecting Pool after a different bird carcass was found floating in the water.
President Trump over the weekend made accusations of vandalism around the pool, and five individuals have since been arrested in connection to the reports.
The Interior Department added fencing around the site on Tuesday.
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