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Retropolis
Trump’s Fourth of July history speech: Turns out there weren’t airports back then
By Gillian Brockell
July 5 at 2:00 AM
President Trump broke with decades of tradition Thursday by not only attending the Independence Day celebration on the Mall in Washington, but making a speech as part of his ‘Salute to America.’
It wasn’t the usual lock-her-up-no-collusion-fake-news fare though. With the aid of a teleprompter, the president spoke for 45 minutes about U.S. history, especially military history, or as he described it, “the greatest story ever told, the story of America.”
[Trump’s Fourth of July celebration thrills supporters, angers opponents]
Historians — at least the ones fact-checking the president on Twitter — were not impressed. One likened the speech to “an angry grandpa reading a fifth grader’s book report on American military history.”
Others tweeted their reactions in GIFs.
https://t.co/2AbdPZGrP3 pic.twitter.com/z7joH8X8ys
— Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) July 5, 2019
Trump opened with an account of the signing of the Declaration of Independence:
“On this day, 243 years ago, our Founding Fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to declare independence and defend our God-given rights.”
As most history undergrads could tell you, this isn’t quite true. The Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776. On July 4, they approved the final text of the declaration. They signed it with their John Hancocks on August 2.
There were inaccuracies like this peppered throughout the speech — the president still seems to not know exactly who “Douglass, Frederick Douglass, the great Frederick Douglass” is — but Trump was especially befuddled when he described the creation of the U.S. Army.
In June of 1775, the Continental Congress created a unified army out of the revolutionary forces encamped around Boston and New York and named after the great George Washington, commander in chief. The Continental Army suffered a bitter winter of Valley Forge, found glory across the waters of the Delaware and seized victory from Cornwallis of Yorktown. Our army manned the [unclear], it [unclear] the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do. And at Fort McHenry, under “the rockets red glare,” it had nothing but victory. And when dawn came, their star-spangled banner waved defiant.
There is a lot to unpack here.
First, it’s clear the president was having some issues reading the teleprompter, which led to a number of errors. For example, British General Cornwallis was of London; he was defeated at Yorktown. The Continental Army wasn’t named after Washington; it’s possible Trump substituted “named” for a different verb in the text of the speech.
But that doesn’t explain the apparent conflation of two wars fought three decades apart. In the first part, Trump mentions Valley Forge, crossing the Delaware and Yorktown, all of which occurred during the Revolutionary War. Then he says, “And at Fort McHenry ...” and describes the battle in which the national anthem was written. This battle was fought in 1814 during the War of 1812.
Then there’s the claim the Army — in either 1775 or 1814 or some time in between? — “took over the airports.” Odd considering that earlier in the speech Trump noted the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk in 1903.
Was it another ad-lib borne of too-small teleprompter type? Who knows?
But by late Thursday night, #RevolutionaryWarAirportStories was trending on Twitter.
If your gunpowder doesn’t fit in a 3 oz container, it will be confiscated. #RevolutionaryWarAirportStories
— Meg (@girlnthetardis) July 5, 2019
Dearest Martha,
Please ensure to pack our socks. We shant ride in the flying carriage whilst having our feet exposed.
George#RevolutionaryWarAirportStories pic.twitter.com/yksgtGK5A1
— ᑕᕼᑌᑎK (@chunkled) July 5, 2019
Also, some angry Canadians would like you to know that when Alexander Graham Bell got the first U.S. patent for the telephone, he was a Scottish immigrant to Canada.
Read more Retropolis:
The tanks for Trump’s July Fourth ‘Salute to America’ have rolled through Washington before
Trump wants a starring role on July 4th. Jefferson settled for punch and cake.
Saving Thomas Jefferson’s soul
How a painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas went 19th-century viral
Frederick Douglass died just hours after his public makeup with Susan B. Anthony
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