There are people who renovate a thing and quietly fix it when it breaks. Donald Trump renovated the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, watched it fail in photographs, and responded by arresting a 67-year-old retired Olympian for touching the evidence.
The pool has held water since 1922 without requiring a Truth Social post about it. This spring, Trump’s administration painted the basin “American Flag Blue” and announced, per the Washington Examiner, that it had achieved “a mirror like finish, perfectly reflecting the two Great Monuments, which it never had before.” The water turned green within days. Green, as in the color of the algae that moved in immediately, because painting an outdoor water feature an opaque color and adjusting its chemistry is, to any passing algae, something close to a formal invitation. The blue liner then began peeling off the bottom in chunks. Photographs of the peeling American Flag Blue went everywhere.
David Hearn is 67, a three-time Olympic cyclist, and a Bethesda man who was biking past the pool last Friday when he noticed a loose piece of liner already hanging off the bottom. He reached into the water and pulled at it. U.S. Park Police arrested him on the spot. He was charged with destruction of government property. According to Fox News, Hearn said, “By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.” The piece was already coming off. Hearn pulled at the piece that was already coming off. He is currently charged for this.
Trump went on Truth Social and announced, according to the Washington Examiner, that vandals had used “some form of knife or blade” and put “a 250-foot-long gash” into the liner, and promised “years in jail.” He has produced no evidence of the knife. What is documented is the algae, the peeling, and the Olympian’s handcuffs.
Monday morning, per the Washington Examiner, Trump posted that work on the pool is “complete” and being “taken care of.” The algae remains. Hearn remains charged. The pool, which held water for 104 years before the renovation, is being taken care of.
When the renovation produces the damage and the president’s theory is sabotage, and the saboteur is a retired cyclist who touched a piece that was hanging off, who exactly is being fooled?
Sources
Washington Examiner: Trump says 300-foot gash in Reflecting Pool ‘being taken care of’
Fox News: Former Olympian among those charged
Washington Examiner: Trump inspects pool, work to begin
