Dana Bash presses Doug Burgum as he deflects on Patriot Front march

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One of President Trump’s own Cabinet members, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, had multiple opportunities to clearly condemn a white nationalist group that marched through the nation’s capital on the Fourth of July. And instead of giving a simple, direct answer, we got something else.

DANA BASH: “There’s a widely circulated photograph, I’m sure you’ve seen it, taken by Reuters of an African American woman on a subway, surrounded by members of this group. Are you concerned about this?”

BURGUM: “Well, I think we obviously, when we’re celebrating America, we’ve had an incredible celebration, this is kickoff of a celebration year, but we know from our very founding that this was something that divided our nation. Eighty-five years after those brave patriots signed the Declaration of Independence we fought the bloodiest war America has ever fought, the Civil War, and its, our nation survived thanks to the courage and leadership of Abraham Lincoln.”

Well, that was a long-winded way to avoid answering the question.

CNN’S Dana Bash asked again, even more directly.

BASH: “Do you condemn this group? And what they were doing, and most importantly what do they stand for?”

BURGUM: “Well, I think what they stand for is nothing that I could possibly agree with, but one of the foundational principles of the United States that makes democracy messy is free speech.”

Of course free speech exists in America. That’s not the issue. No one was asking whether Patriot Front had a constitutional right to march. The question was whether one of the country’s top officials could plainly condemn a group whose ideology is rooted in white nationalism.

Secretary Burgum also declined to say whether President Trump should condemn the group.

This wasn’t a handful of people standing on a random street corner. Reports estimated roughly 400 masked marchers carrying Patriot Front flags alongside Confederate flags through the nation’s capital during America’s 250th Independence Day celebration.

As someone who is incredibly proud to be an American, I think it’s pathetic that a white nationalist group felt empowered to march through our nation’s capital on Independence Day. This should have been one of those moments where our nation’s leaders spoke with absolute moral clarity.

I grew up in a home where my parents proudly flew the American flag outside. To me, that flag represents the promise that America is always capable of becoming a more perfect union. So to see hundreds of white nationalists marching through Washington carrying Confederate flags during the biggest patriotic celebration in our country’s history, and not hear an unmistakable rejection of what they stand for from the highest levels of government, is extremely disappointing. This shouldn’t be a difficult call, guys.

History shows us that presidents have often been called on to meet moments exactly like this.

President John F. Kennedy called racial discrimination a moral issue. President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Americans to eliminate “the last vestiges of injustice” as he signed the Civil Rights Act. Those weren’t politically easy moments, but history has largely remembered leaders who confronted racism more favorably than those who remained silent.

I see some people online insisting that these marchers were “paid actors” sent to divide the country. Maybe that’s because it’s easier to believe that than to accept the reality that this group is exactly what it claims to be: a white nationalist organization that promotes the idea that America belongs primarily to people of European descent while rejecting the diversity that has long defined this country. And there are a lot of people who believe this and live among us.

That’s not patriotism. It’s racism.

One image from that day has already become unforgettable: a Black woman sitting quietly on a Metro train, surrounded by masked members of Patriot Front. Some have called it the defining image of America at this moment in history.

Whether that’s true will ultimately be up to history. But this much is certain: moments like these become defining not just because extremists show up, but because history remembers how our leaders responded.

Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.