Former NBC News anchor Chuck Todd unloaded on President Trump over the nation’s 250th birthday celebration, accusing him of hijacking the milestone and turning it into a celebration of himself.
Todd said on his “Chuck ToddCast” podcast on Saturday that Trump overshadowed the bipartisan effort that Congress established years ago to commemorate the country’s semiquincentennial.
“I do not think there is any way to avoid the obvious reason this anniversary feels so much smaller than it should be: Donald Trump has made the country’s birthday about Donald Trump,” Todd said.
The former “Meet the Press” moderator didn’t mince words.
“Donald Trump has ruined the American brand and the American birthday celebration,” Todd declared.
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Todd contrasted the White House’s Freedom 250 festivities with the congressionally created America250 commission, saying the original vision was intended to feature state and local celebrations, museums, schools and civic organizations telling “their own piece of the great American story.”
“It could have been broad, it might have been a little messy, might have even been a little bland at times, but that would have been fine because sometimes bland is the point,” Todd said.
Instead, he argued, Trump eclipsed that effort by launching his own Freedom 250 initiative and making himself the focal point of the anniversary.
“He couldn’t leave it alone. He created his own version of the celebration,” Todd said.
“First he created this task force on celebrating America’s 250th birthday with Freedom 250 with the president as chair and the vice president as vice chair, and it competed and overshadowed the congressionally created, taxpayer funded America 250 effort.”
Todd also blasted the recent UFC event held on the White House grounds as part of the administration’s festivities.
Here’s the latest on America’s 250th Anniversary:
“Trump just took it all over. He staged his own little UFC fight on the White House lawn,” Todd said.
“A literal cage gets erected or a bouncy house that looks like a cage gets erected in the backyard on his birthday … The image does the work, there’s a cage on the White House lawn.”
“A national birthday turned into his own personal political rally, a celebration of the country made to orbit one man,” he added.
Todd argued that Trump’s approach alienated Americans who otherwise might have embraced the anniversary celebration.
“This is why so many people are opting out,” he said.
Near the end of Todd’s nearly hour-long monologue, he accused Trump of diminishing one of the country’s most significant milestones.
“I do not like that we had a chance to celebrate the country in a serious way and are instead watching this president cheapen it,” he said.
“I do not like that a country with this much to celebrate has a leader who cannot share the stage with the country he leads.”
“President Trump successfully ensured that America got the spectacular birthday it deserves,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told The Post.
“The celebration of America’s 250th anniversary displayed great patriotism in our Nation’s Capital and throughout the country, and the President was proud to participate in our historic semiquincentennial celebration. Only people who suffer from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome would find a problem with that.”
