President Donald Trump on Friday promised at a White House East Room Columbus Day event to keep Christopher Columbus highly shielded through the remaining nearly two and a half years of his term against left-wing attempts to erase national origins.

He accused Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of seeking to end the holiday, used a self-chosen name for him, and said critics persist in trying to cancel the day.

Trump recalled earlier campaigns to take down Lincoln statues after branding him racist despite his ending of slavery, to drop George Washington from many school names, and to dismantle Thomas Jefferson’s memorial. He noted signing first-term legislation for harsher penalties against statue toppling.