Marc Thiessen says 'Salute to America' critics have 'egg on their face'
President Trump highlighted patriotism over politics in a speech celebrating America's greatness on Independence Day; reaction and analysis from Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen.
In a week that’s supposed to celebrate the birth of the United States, the left-wing media attacked the American flag, our national anthem, the Declaration of Independence and the Fourth of July. And of course, the nonstop demonization of President Trump continued – as it does every day.
“I’m proud to be an American,” goes the Lee Greenwood song. Well, at least some of us are.
Many journalists outdid themselves when it came to the Fourth of July, managing to do everything wrong. They warned, incorrectly, that the Salute to America celebration conceived by Trump for the nation’s capital would be a disaster or turn into a Trump political rally.
MARC THIESSEN: CRITICS OF TRUMP'S JULY 4 'SALUTE' HAD 'STUPIDEST FREAKOUT OF ALL TIME'
ABC, CBS, NBC and MSNBC refused to broadcast the celebration, focusing instead on criticism of the event before it began. And when the celebration turned into an inspiring patriotic event that honored the men and women of our armed forces, Trump critics in the media refused to admit they had been wrong.
It was one of the most embarrassing weeks for journalism during the Trump administration – in other words, in history.
The lead-up was ridiculous. MSNBC was especially outlandish.
Host Chris Matthews slammed Trump supporters attending the festivities before they began. “They’re gonna have their Confederate flags flying,” he wrongly predicted. Because the left pretends anyone who backs Trump is a racist.
Matthews’ MSNBC colleague Chris Hayes said Trump had “hijacked” the July Fourth celebration. Pundits compared the Salute to America plans to a military parade from the old Soviet Union, Egypt or North Korea.
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson envisioned the day as “a combination Trump rally and Kim Jong Un-style military parade.”
HBO’s Bill Maher was upset because the event featured tanks. “Tanks in the streets now? Shall we review the Dictator Checklist?” he tweeted, apparently missing the fact that Presidents John Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower had all done the same thing.
Dyson, who is paid to say silly stuff, excelled. “Words matter. Symbols matter too. Why don't we wear a swastika for July Fourth?” he asked. He even threw in “the cross burning on somebody's lawn” for added lunacy.
Then came the big day, with Trump calmly delivering a patriotic and inclusive speech that focused on honoring the military. CNN covered it the way the Black Plague covered Europe.
CNN political analyst April Ryan unleashed an assault on Trump. “There are a lot of things in this speech that he – it may have been ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ Trump version, but nonetheless we still have to fact check and it was his attempt at a soaring moment for history.” She cited “Schoolhouse Rock” twice in her more than three-minute rambling attack.
The angry CNN team of liberals flat-out despised the speech. Former Obama spokesman and retired Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby mocked it as “fairly sepia-toned and saccharine in its depth and context” and “eighth-grade history.” He, of course, complained about “the militaristic tone of the whole thing.”
Political Analyst Ryan Lizza criticized how the speech was written. He said that “it reminds you that his (Trump’s) speechwriters are not the best in the business.” Lizza also depicted the speech as the “‘Schoolhouse Rock’ version of history or, you know, seventh or eighth grade research reports.”
As unhinged as that group looked, then there was counterterrorism analyst Philip Mudd, who practically chewed the scenery, as they say in Hollywood. Mudd ranted: “At a professional level of 25 years in national security I hated it. At a personal level, I hated it more.”
Salon politics writer Amanda Marcotte was even angrier, saying Trump supporters stayed during the speech because they were “making a stand for white supremacy and male domination.” She blasted them as scarier than Nazis because they endured “rain and their obvious boredom.”
“The grim determination of Trump's crowd was more terrifying than any Nuremberg-style spectacle could have been,” Marcotte wrote.
The left didn’t stop there. Another Salon piece had a similar collection of bile, stating: “Fourth of July's ugly truth exposed: The Declaration of Independence is sexist, racist, prejudiced.”
Nike’s flagging devotion
Colin Kaepernick isn’t a good quarterback – either for any NFL team or for a shoe company. The San Francisco 49ers were 1-10 with him as a starter in 2016, his last season. Nike isn’t doing much better, embracing the police-hating, America-hating former athlete.
Nike was releasing a new shoe with the Betsy Ross flag (13 stars in a circle instead of the current 50) on the back of each shoe. Cue Kaepernick, who hasn’t been whining and dining with the media recently. He complained that the shoe design brought back memories of an era where African-Americans were enslaved.
Since Kaepernick is a Nike celebrity endorser, out went the shoes – the very same week as the Fourth of July.
Naturally, the press rose to defend Nike from the evil flag that American patriots fought under to win our independence from Britain. The company responded by saying it was “proud of its American heritage.” It lied and the outrage grew.
NBC reporter Stephanie Gosk reported in a way that would damn one-third of U.S. history, “Some called the early American flag a symbol of slavery,” said. Gosk got so desperate to find offensive things to say that she went to social media, quoting a random comment referring to the shoes as “‘air slaveries.’” Balanced reporting!
CBS correspondent Meg Oliver called the Betsy Ross flag as “an early version of the American flag with 13 stars and stripes used in the 1700s, before slavery was abolished.” That same argument would also eliminate the national anthem, based on the 1814 attack on Fort McHenry.
It went downhill from there.
New York Times opinion contributor and Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson (how’s that for a far-left tandem?) went out of his way to make a fool of himself on MSNBC.
Dyson, who is paid to say silly stuff, excelled. “Words matter. Symbols matter too. Why don't we wear a swastika for July Fourth?” he asked. He even threw in “the cross burning on somebody's lawn” for added lunacy.
Rolling Stone claimed the first American flag “has been used by some extremist groups as a means of telegraphing a return to more traditionalist (re: predominantly white and male) American ideals.” Heck, even the far-left Anti-Defamation League said they “view it as essentially an innocuous historical flag.”
The media didn’t care. Wacky Vice declared: “Betsy Ross' flag is a reminder of slavery. We don't need it on shoes.” ‘
Fast Company delivered selective history and said the Betsy Ross flag has “also been co-opted by white nationalist groups over the years, including the American Nazi Party.” And GQ described the shoes as “potentially offensive.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Now here’s what most outlets left out. One of the most famous users of the Betsy Ross flag was … President Barack Obama. Two enormous versions of the flag bracketed him as he spoke during his second inauguration.
In other words, this is all a made-up media controversy created to find a new way to attack President Trump.
Get the recap of top opinion commentary and original content throughout the week.