There have been plenty of criticisms of President Trump's desire for a Fourth of July event to take place in Washington D.C. Criticisms include it being a misguided use of funds, the tanks being too heavy for D.C.'s streets and bridges, and assertions it would resemble a Soviet military parades down Red Square.
On Monday, Trump raised eyebrows with his comments about "brand new Sherman tanks," but on the Tuesday edition of CNN's The Situation Room, CNN carnival barker and American Urban Radio Networks correspondent April Ryan came up with a new objection: the purpose of the parade is so that Trump can look like a dictator.
During the panel discussion on the matter, CNN contributor Bianna Golodryga said that a display of military hardware down the streets of the capital would be "for lack of a better word...very Soviet." Stating that Americans are just not familiar with parades of military vehicles, she added: "And clearly what the President saw in France last year has stuck with him."
Earlier in the segment, Ryan had cited Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro stating that the money for the parade could have been better spent serving homeless veterans, but after Golodryga's reference to Trump's visit to France's Bastille Day parade, she remembered "the piece we're for forgetting."
According to Ryan, Trump's fondness for Paris' Bastille Day festivities is, "about bolstering himself up, looking like a dictator from another nation or a time that’s forgot." Which, unless she's calling French President Emanuel Macron a dictator, which would certainly be an odd allegation.
Ryan's assertion that Trump wants to use this parade to look like a dictator is not unique in the media. Our friends at The Washington Free Beacon picked up a similar conversation hours earlier on MSNBC's Deadline: White House where AM Joy host Joy Reid declared the parade to be "a threat" to any political opposition because Trump "aspires to be sort of a mini-Putin or Kim Jong-Un."
One should be allowed to criticize the idea of having tanks roll down the streets of D.C. for a parade or holiday without being called unpatriotic, but the media always take things to eleven which turns criticism into hysteria and genuine concerns into partisan scaremongering.
Here is a transcript for the July 2 show:
CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
July 2, 2019
5:40 p.m. EasternBIANNA GOLODRYGA: But the fourth of July has never traditionally focused on the military.
APRIL RYAN: That’s right.
GOLODRYGA: And that is why this seems so awkward. Because it is not something we as a nation are used to doing on the Fourth of July. Clearly we celebrate our independence but military parade is not what we do in this country. For lack of a better word, it is very Soviet. And clearly what the President saw in France last year has stuck with him. And this is something that they do in France on Bastille Day, not something we do on the fourth of July regardless of who is in office.
RYAN: And the piece we're for forgetting, this is what -- something the president saw, about bolstering himself up, looking like a dictator from another nation or a time that’s forgot. But here is another issue. On Fourth of July we've seen this in Washington, the presidents prior presidents have had military personnel come and sit on the South Lawn and watch the fireworks, we’ve seen military around but this is taking it to another level.
