Historian and author Ted Widmer called the Lincoln Memorial “a civic sacred ground” in an opinion piece published June 14, arguing that President Donald Trump’s use of the monument for events including a UFC cage fight weigh-in this weekend represents a desecration of the site.

“Any building that excites feelings of reverence for the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln and Dr. King will prove threatening to a president who does not share that egalitarian vision,” Widmer wrote in The Guardian.

The upcoming event, scheduled for Friday night, will use the Lincoln Memorial as a backdrop for a press conference and weigh-ins for a mixed martial arts fight on the White House lawn, Widmer reported.

Widmer traced the memorial’s design to Henry Bacon, who intentionally created an open, inviting structure. The building has 36 fluted Doric columns to symbolize the states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death, a gesture Widmer described as a “gesture toward peace and reconciliation” that included the states that had been in rebellion. The 87 steps leading to the chamber were chosen to echo the “four score and seven” of the Gettysburg Address, linking 1863 to 1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence.

Widmer noted that the memorial has held special resonance for African Americans since its dedication in 1922. Marian Anderson sang from its steps in 1939 before 75,000 people after being denied access to Constitution Hall. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech from the same steps on August 28, 1963. President Harry Truman gave a civil rights speech there in 1947.

The historian said Trump’s 2019 “Salute to America” displayed military hardware on the National Mall — “exactly the kind of military imagery that Pope refused to build into the Memorial,” Widmer wrote — and included a 46-minute presidential speech that did not mention Lincoln. Trump later claimed he drew a larger crowd at that event than King did in 1963.

Widmer also referenced a separate project: an enormous arch being constructed near the Lincoln Memorial, which he said appears designed to “cast a shadow on Lincoln’s temple of liberty.” The arch, part of a broader Trump administration push to reshape Washington landmarks, has been approved by the federal Fine Arts Commission, MSI has reported.

“Jefferson and Adams, the two men most responsible for the Declaration, wrote to each other in 1813, and the subject of gladiators came up,” Widmer wrote, quoting Thomas Jefferson’s refusal to “exhibit ourselves, as gladiators, in the Arena of the newspapers.” The historian suggested those Founders would be dismayed by “these displays of gladiator combat, so close to July 4.”