AP (“Trump mixes patriotism with partisanship as he celebrates America’s ‘joyous’ 250th anniversary“):
President Donald Trump mixed partisan politics with patriotic appeals on Saturday as he commemorated the 250th anniversary of American independence, a moment he declared “one of the most joyous and glorious milestones of all time.”
Speaking in Washington after storms prompted a roughly two-hour evacuation of the National Mall, Trump honored veterans, including several from World War II and one of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat in Vietnam. They appeared before flags that symbolized some of the most significant and challenging moments in American history, from the one that was draped over Abraham Lincoln’s casket to the one that flew on the plane piloted by the Wright Brothers.
Yet Trump also leaned into partisan territory unusual for an Independence Day address, which presidents typically use as a moment to unify the country. Instead, he stumped again for the SAVE America Act, an elections bill that’s encountering challenges even from Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress. He highlighted his support for the Second Amendment and revived denunciations of communism, which are becoming an increasingly central part of Trump’s message ahead of the November midterms.
The speech capped a holiday that Trump has gone to great lengths to shape to his own tastes. He was introduced by two musical performers who often appear at his trademark rallies, including Lee Greenwood, who performed “God Bless the USA.” The event organizers were largely aligned with the White House, supplanting a bipartisan organization that was launched by Congress a decade ago.
“We will always be on top,” Trump said. “We will never let our country fall. We will always be the best.”
Trump didn’t talk about himself as much as he does during his normal rally speeches. Still, he still found time to include a joke about seeking a third presidential term and about World War II’s “greatest generation.”
“They are the greatest generation,” Trump said. “I hate to admit that, but they are.”
NYT (“Crowds Evacuated as Storms Menace Washington Ahead of Trump Speech“):
Federal officials ordered thousands of people to evacuate the National Mall in Washington on Saturday night ahead of a presidential speech and fireworks display to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday. Crowds were told to seek shelter as a line of severe storms approached the city.
Park Police and other law enforcement officers started urging people to leave at about 7 p.m., just as the festivities were expected to start. Many attendees had stood in hourlong security lines in blistering heat, waiting to go through Secret Service metal detectors to get to the mall. And many of them refused to leave.
After lightning was spotted in the area, spectators were told to take shelter in nearby buildings, including Smithsonian museums, the Jefferson Memorial and several designated federal departments, including the Internal Revenue Service. But some of those buildings were not open to serve as shelters.
People crowded around the entrances of the Commerce Department, locked out. A nearby officer shrugged when someone asked how to get inside.
In a statement provided a little after 7:30 p.m., a spokesman for the Secret Service said that no one else was being admitted to the mall, and that “this action was taken solely in the interest of public safety.” It added, “We have no estimate for when screening may resume.”
Some people on the mall became angry, with several hundred refusing to leave and arguing with Secret Service personnel, chanting, “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” A federal law enforcement officer tried to assure people that the event had not been canceled, though many were not convinced.
WaPo (“America’s 250th celebrations marked by severe weather, political division“):
Dawn had just cracked on America’s 250th birthday when a couple from Texas jogged past a sign outside the U.S. Capitol that read “POLICE LINE — DO NOT CROSS.” It was the start of a day that did not go according to plan.
Visitors in red, white and blue darkened with sweat stood in lines for hours, sometimes screaming in frustration and other times collapsing from exhaustion. The Independence Day parade was canceled and the Great American State Fair delayed. Steel fences and closed roads made photos of iconic monuments hard to capture. Both white supremacists and liberal activists marched through the city, each demanding their country back.
And a severe weather warning in the early evening, just before Air Force One flew over, prompted Secret Service officials to order thousands of people to evacuate the Mall, forcing a chaotic scramble for shelter in nearby buildings.
“Show is over. Please keep moving,” one officer shouted to stragglers. As exits backed up and it became unclear where the remaining crowd should head, the evacuation grew increasingly tense. Officers from several agencies ordered people to leave, while some Trump supporters refused to go, chanting “USA!” from the risers.
Dean Twilly, dressed in a red Make America Great Again shirt, said she was frightened when she saw a Secret Service officer throwing chairs in an effort to get people to leave. “They were mad because people weren’t moving out fast enough,” said Twilly, who had waited six hours to get into the event after traveling 700 miles from Cullman, Alabama. After gates reopened hours later, President Donald Trump spoke at 11 p.m. A 40-minute fireworks show largely took place after midnight as the holiday ended.
Our celebrations are often impacted by the weather. Every year, thousands of people are stranded by snowfall and unable to make family Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Weddings, including my first one, are frequently marred by rain. And July 4 is almost always going to be quite hot and, since fireworks after dark are a traditional part of the festivities and summer storms tend to happen in the evenings along the East Coast, rainouts are common.
People tend to throng to DC for the day, anyway, and yesterday’s 250th, while not as highly touted or anticipated as the 1976 Bicentenial, had been in the works for a long time. Thousands had traveled from far away and had little choice but to endure the heatwave.
It didn’t help that President Trump insisted on being the center of the event, necessitating considerably tighter-than-usual security. The resulting precautions made it far worse than it had to be. Attendees weren’t allowed to bring in chairs, umbrellas, or even water bottles. The tight screening forced people to suffer the 99-degree heat all day. It’s no wonder at all that many of them raised hell when told to evacuate and lose the place they’d endured so much to secure. And, of course, he insisted on giving a long speech before the fireworks display they’d all come to see, pushing them past midnight.
