Leave it to Fox News to politicize and weaponize Donald Trump’s “patriotic” July 4th speech while pretending he didn’t make a jaw-dropping claim that the revolutionary army "took over the airports" and that he didn’t use the event to enrich himself.
The Washington Post’s Philip Bump has a good rundown of just how wrong Trump got the history behind the holiday, in addition to his ridiculous statement about airports during the Revolutionary War.
Instead of saying that the Continental Congress named George Washington commander in chief, which it did, Trump said for some reason that they named it after him, which they didn’t. He said that the winter of Valley Forge, not at Valley Forge, was difficult. Trump claimed that British Gen. Charles Cornwallis of Yorktown had victory snatched away from him instead of saying that Cornwallis lost at Yorktown. He said that the army manned . . . something, instead of presumably saying that American forces manned the ramparts at Fort McHenry. The fort’s ramparts are part of the national anthem, which Trump then alluded to twice more.
That's not counting the fact that Trump almost certainly used the occasion to line his own pockets at a huge, concealed taxpayer expense.
But the "all-star panel" on Special Report immediately following the speech raved over it as “unifying” – just before exploiting it for partisan purposes on behalf of Glorious Leader Trump.
Hugo Gurdon, editor-in-chief of the Washington Examiner, started off with effusive praise. He called the speech “very deft.” Trump “didn't have to be political," Gurdon said, "because the entire invocation of American greatness and the great people was, just sort of a stirring cry for people to continue that tradition.”
But the host, Mike Emanuel, purportedly a “straight news” Fox correspondent who guest anchored Fox’s flagship news program, deliberately nudged the discussion to become more divisive:
“For folks with a patriotic bone in their body, this had to really touch them,” Emanuel said suggestively. His voice dripped with hammy emotion, as though he was still moved by the magnificence.
Not surprisingly, panelist Mollie Hemingway took the cue. “I have to think that people who were critical of this whole idea of doing something like this have got to feel a little foolish,” she began, with her usual smugness. “That was clearly a very good speech, very unifying. I don’t think an American around could have trouble with what he was saying.” She went on to claim that the speech “reminds me actually of Calvin Coolidge, our great former president who was born on Independence Day. “
Josh Kraushaar, of the National Journal, also took the hint. He called the speech “an ode to American exceptionalism.” Then he said, “Even though there was no politics discussed in the speech there was an unmistakable political subtext at a time when a lot of leading Democratic president of candidates are dwelling on America’s faults through history.”
Kraushaar surely secured more Fox hits for himself as he added, “You had Nike this past week take the original Betsy Ross flag off one of its shoes under protest from Colin Kaepernick. This was a contrast to that. This was a paean to American exceptionalism and a tribute to America and even though he didn’t bring up politics, the contrast was unmistakable.”
Watch Fox do another great imitation of North Korean state television below, from the July 4, 2019 Special Report.
The net result is you have four Trump lovers here playing the roles of unwitting hypocrites. A great example is Mollie Hemingway’s sentimentality at the end for hometown, apolitical parades of police and fire. Which is a direct contrast to Trump injecting himself into the 4th of July. His pettiness and divisiveness was on full display when he didn’t hand out any tickets to Democrats – unmentioned by the pack of Trump sycophants. The panelists admit Trump touched on topics explicitly to tweak Democrats.
Like praising immigration agents at a time when more and more dirt – some of it from internal administration audits – is pouring out of its widespread abuses. Undoubtedly a direct Trump administration policy. Additionally we’re discovering a FaceBook group of agents – representing potentially a huge percentage of current agents – posting unbelievable levels of immigrant hate. Fox News plays a clip of Trump praising Americans to nail his nod to the Nike Betty Ross controversy but he also praises Harriet Tubman at a time his administration is doing it’s best to block her appearing on a $20 bill. Pure racial division.
I’ve only heard excerpts of Trump’s speech so I need to ask did he anywhere in his mangled version of U.S. history mention our proud tradition of being a nation of immigrants? Did he touch on our history slavery? I’ll stick my neck out and predict no because none of this fits his modern version of MAGA.