There are national celebrations that project unity. The Great American State Fair opened Wednesday evening on the National Mall with a 110-foot Ferris wheel, pavilions from all 50 states, and a warm-up act from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who addressed the crowd celebrating America’s 250 years of pluralism and freedom and called the musicians who had canceled their appearances “libtards.” This is a slur. It was deployed at a national birthday event. Into a microphone. In front of cameras. With evident confidence that the moment called for it.
Trump then took the stage, and according to HuffPost, attacked Joe Biden within the first three minutes without using his name, which is the sort of technique a man deploys when he wants the effects of an attack without the optics of one. Kellyanne Conway watched the speech and described it on Fox News as “inclusive” and as Trump “extending an olive branch.” The speech that opened with a slur and a Biden attack without using Biden’s name was described as an olive branch, which is either Conway’s professional obligation or her genuine assessment, and it is impossible to know which is more alarming.
The unity celebration, meanwhile, was surrounded by a National Mall that still features a Reflecting Pool painted American Flag Blue, which has turned green with algae, from which the liner is peeling, and near which a 67-year-old Olympian remains charged for touching a piece of the liner that was already detached. The birthday party was held approximately 50 yards from this, and nobody who was asked to speak mentioned it.
Separately, the Senate voted 47-50 on Wednesday night to reject a second Iran war powers resolution attempt, after Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy reversed his yes vote from Tuesday following a private White House briefing whose contents remain undisclosed. The resolution failed. The war powers attempt that had previously passed 50-48 is now effectively dead. This happened on the same evening as the birthday party. The president described the birthday party as a triumph and did not address the Cassidy reversal. The Cassidy reversal was not mentioned at the Ferris wheel.
According to Fox News, the Great American State Fair is scheduled to run through July 10, 2026. The Reflecting Pool renovation is described as ongoing. The 250-year triumph continues.
When the unity celebration requires a slur for warmup and an undisclosed White House briefing to reverse a Senate vote on the same night, which of those two events was the party?
Sources
Fox News: Trump to kick off Great American State Fair as 250th anniversary celebrations take over National Mall
Fox News: ‘America is back’: Trump kicks off Great American State Fair with flyovers, patriotic National Mall speech
Fox News live: Senate rejects Iran war powers resolution
HuffPost: Kellyanne Conway mocked for wildly over-the-top Trump claim
