Trump Campaign Should Be Paying For July 4th Event On The National Mall

What should be a happy and non-partisan celebration of America’s Declaration of Independence from a foreign despot has been kidnapped by a domestic despot. Between adding military units and equipment reminiscent of May Day events elsewhere and having the Republican National Committee handling ticketing…this smacks of being just one more, albeit bigger, Trump Campaign Rally.

…no matter what Trump says in his planned Independence Day speech from the Lincoln Memorial. The very act of taking over the proceedings in the manner he has cooked up itself accomplishes this feat.

The Post reports that the National Park Service will now divert millions of dollars previously earmarked to improve parks across the country to fund Trump’s celebration on the National Mall.


Meanwhile, White House official tells The Post that the plans include a plane from Air Force One’s fleet soaring overhead at precisely the moment that Trump takes the stage. Tanks will take part in the display.


Finally, the White House is handing out tickets to the event to GOP donors and political appointees. Passes are being distributed by the Republican National Committee and Trump’s reelection campaign.


As many critics have pointed out, by politicizing July 4th so nakedly, Trump has inevitably transformed the celebration into a campaign event. It remains to be seen whether he will do so explicitly in his speech, but either way, that conversion has already been implicitly accomplished.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise I guess. But the audacity and boldness involved…should be expected too…given what he’s gotten away with so far in his regime.

But America should be sending his campaign committee the bill for this extravaganza…because it’s all about him and not about America.

Trump will read aloud some words of his own about Jefferson and Lincoln that were written for him to create the impression that he grasps these things. But the celebration itself will reveal that he very much does not.

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