There are two different anniversary-related events happening in the U.S. this year: "America 250" and "Freedom 250." One was organized by a bipartisan group to celebrate the birth of the nation. The latter was organized by President Donald Trump and was the subject of a Monday CNN panel mocking the president's failure to attract participants.
After Trump announced the supposed musical lineup for his event, multiple artists dropped out. Trump then claimed on Truth Social that he'd simply do the concert himself and turn it into a huge political MAGA rally.
"I like that even our unifying events are divided," laughed CNN host Audi Cornish. "Am I the only person who's like, this is ridiculous?"
"It's completely ridiculous, but you're also seeing a bifurcation in terms of what 'Freedom 250' is going to put their stake in the ground versus the other group," agreed Sara Fischer, senior media reporter for Axios. "Notably, this UFC match seems to be very much sort of like a Trumpian 'Freedom 250' thing versus something that's a little bit broader. And I think that the UFC match was a turning point. As soon as people saw this big stadium, [they] could see it right here being built. It suddenly sent a big signal A: that this is coming up really soon. B: That this is very Trump-coded because it's happening on his birthday and on Flag Day."
Becca Wasser, a former national defense staffer for Congress, agreed, saying that Trump's big birthday parade was very clearly about him and had very little to do with celebrating the U.S. Army's birthday.
"So, there is this politicization of essentially American history, but also a continued politicization of U.S. forces with a lot of these events. And we might see that with the UFC event, where President Trump is reportedly allowing troops to come in and get tickets for free, and trying to also use this as a military recruitment, right?" said Wasser.
"If they fit the physical standard that he has set forth to qualify for these tickets," explained V. Spehar, who created "Under the Desk News" on social media.
"So you have to be hot and buff just to watch it?" a confused Cornish asked.
"Yes. And in your short-sleeve uniform, you have the proper waist height ratio. This is all published," Spehar replied.
As for the concert, the only people still performing are Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida.
"He doesn't speak in a bipartisan way," Spehar said. "So, of course, if you're going to come and watch President Trump speak, he's going to talk only to his MAGA base as if he's on the campaign trail. He never made that flip that presidents often make to, say, 'Okay, campaigning is over. I'm now the president for everyone.' The thing I'm missing right now, because I would love to go to an America 250 event. I love, all of that pomp and circumstance when we did the 200th in the 70s, man, did they have cool stuff going on,"
Cornish noted that if one looks at the 200th event from the 1970s, none of the materials singled out a specific president, only the founding fathers, etc. That isn't happening this time around. It's Trump trying to put his face on everything he can.
CNN media analyst Sara Fischer added that the way that corporate America is participating is also very different. In the 1970s, corporate America wasn't pressured to support it. Now, corporations are being pressured to speak out and not only about politics but about U.S. history.
