WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — While US President Donald Trump lauded American exceptionalism and praised the country’s past leaders on the eve of its 250th Independence Day, he said that the American identity was “under a renewed attack.”

Taking aim at domestic “radicals and extremists,” he charged that there was “a resurgence of the communist menace in our land,” during a speech late Friday below Mount Rushmore national monument and its giant granite heads of four of his legendary predecessors.

It is a theme that Trump has repeatedly hammered home in recent weeks, as the anti-establishment left of the Democratic Party carried a string of US primary victories.

The president has cast the rise of the left ahead of November’s midterm elections as “communists” on the rampage, posing a major “threat” to the country.

On Friday, Trump said there has been an attempt to “beat the American spirit out of us, alienate us from our history” in recent years.

While his language fell short of the more violent anti-immigrant rhetoric he has wielded in past speeches, the underlying message was clear.

“You do not have to be born here, but you do have to love what we have built,” he said.

The location of Trump’s speech was a fitting backdrop for a president who views himself as one of the greats.

Trump’s supporters have even introduced legislation to have his likeness chiseled beside those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

Heat wave

Meanwhile, around 160 million Americans were under either major or extreme heat warnings as the country prepared to mark the 250th anniversary of its independence, according to the National Weather Service.

Celebrations on the National Mall — the vast lawn stretching from Congress to the Washington Monument — were partially postponed in the early afternoon on Friday because of the heat.

A young woman apparently suffered from heat exhaustion and was evacuated by paramedics from the Great American State Fair, being held on the Mall.

“It’s like the 30th person,” said an event staffer. “They might have to shut this (event) down.”

Less than 90 minutes later, organizers did just that.

The annual Independence Day Parade in Washington set for Saturday morning was also canceled “due to extreme heat,” organizers said.

In New York City, the heat index — the apparent temperature when humidity is factored in — stood at 105F (41C) in mid-afternoon, shy of the 115F that forecasters had predicted.

Still, the brutal heat prompted a massive governmental response, with cooling centers opening across the city and public swimming pools extending hours of operation.

Across the country, “numerous daily temperature records are expected today and Independence Day, with some consecutive-day, monthly, and all-time records possible,” the National Weather Service said.