WASHINGTON – “A great crowd of tremendous Patriots this evening,” said President Donald Trump as he addressed a huge throng gathered for his “Salute to America” Independence Day show on the National Mall in the nation’s capital. The event included a parade, flyovers and displays of military equipment.
“People are coming from far and wide to join us today and tonight for what is turning out to be one of the biggest celebrations in the history of our Country,” the president said in a midday tweet on Thursday.
Some of New York’s Congressional delegation were less enthusiastic.
A “jingoistic sideshow,” said Rep. Engel Elliott Engel (D, 16). “What we need is a full accounting of this publicly funded event, which is looking an awful lot like a political/campaign function. Taxpayers are on the hook for this fiasco.”
Rep. Nita Lowey (D, 17) chairs the House Appropriations Committee: “This is simply no way to spend tax dollars,” Lowey said in a tweet. “I am demanding details on the costs related to [Trump’s] self-serving parade.”
Senator Charles Schumer (D, NY) blames it on “insecurity”, saying the President’s “… ego is so large that he’s holding this Fourth of July campaign rally in a desperate cry for attention, and everyone knows it.”
