Donald Trump's Extravagant July 4th Military Parade Is Seen As Nauseating And Narcissistic By Democrats, White House Responds

The Nation

Once more President Donald Trump has infuriated Democrats and some of Washington, D.C.’s city government with his plans to have an extravagant July 4th festivity.

The former reality star turned politician was inspired by French President Emmanuel Macron who had an impressive Bastille Day parade in 2017 that included a military parade in Paris.

Trump and his wife, Melania, were Macron’s special guests at the celebration. President Trump’s 2019 Independence Day event dubbed “Salute to America” will be held at the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday and will include a speech, military-style celebration, and a fly-over.

Political opponents say Trump will use the July 4th festivity to celebrate his presidency and waste taxpayers’ money.

MSNBC’s Hardball, host Chris Matthews sat down with a panel of guests who destroyed Trump’s big event by calling it nauseating and narcissistic.

Charlie Sykes said: “I’m also struck by the tacky narcissism of it and how thoroughly annoying it is that the president of the United States needs to take over what was one of my favorite holidays where we celebrated being American It was not a partisan event. It was not a political event. It was about us, not about one man. And yet Donald Trump cannot resist making everything about himself. Yes, the symbolism is disturbing, but I think it’s just the obnoxiousness of politicizing and militarizing this really — one of our nicer, more unified national holidays.”

Former Defense Department and CIA chief of staff Jeremy Bash added: “This is nauseating, Chris. This is not just obnoxious tackiness; this is dangerous. It’s fundamentally Unamerican. It politicizes a nonpartisan celebration of we the people of our Declaration of Independence, and it also misunderstands the fundamental nature of our military might. Our military is not strong because of the weight of our armor or because of the speed of our fighter jets. It’s because of the professionalism and skill of our service members who sacrifice everything for our freedom. That’s what we should be honoring on July 4th. Not displays of military might.”

White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley responded to the criticism by saying: “The president is not going to get political. He’s going to celebrate the greatest country, the greatest idea in the history of the world, and that is the United States of America.”

Many expect that Trump will get a bit political.