Trump finds Scapegoat For Military Parade Cancellation—Local Officials

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Nutty Trump has found someone to blame for his military parade being canceled, and it is “local politicians,” per a Friday morning tweet.

“The local politicians who run Washington, D.C. (poorly) know a windfall when they see it. When asked to give us a price for holding a great celebratory military parade, they wanted a number so ridiculously high that I cancelled it…”

…he wrote, following Thursday’s reports via anonymous officials that the parade could cost $92 million.

“Never let someone hold you up! I will instead attend the big parade already scheduled at Andrews Air Force Base on a different date, & go to the Paris parade, celebrating the end of the War, on November 11th. Maybe we will do something next year in D.C. when the cost comes WAY DOWN. Now we can buy some more jet fighters!”

The Hill notes “it wasn’t immediately clear” what the big Andrews Air Force Base parade is.
The Washington Post points out that Trump’s tweeted reference to “local politicians” wasn’t critical of Republicans because there aren’t any: Mayor Muriel Bowser is a Democrat, and all DC city council members are either Democrats or independents.
One of those “local politicians” responded. Bowser had this to say on Twitter: “Yup, I’m Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington DC, the local politician who finally got thru to the reality star in the White House with the realities ($21.6M) of parades/events/demonstrations in Trump America (sad).”
The Post also cites an unnamed city official who described the process of planning the parade as having been difficult due to subpar communication with White House officials, who had been “slow” to offer up details down to the specific date. Politico notes it had been planned for Veterans Day, which is Nov. 11 this year; the Post’s report says the parade was to be held Nov. 10.
The Hill also reports that these weren’t Trump’s only recent tweets on the subject. After Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Thursday called for the money to go toward veterans’ causes (“health care, more jobs & skills, end vet homelessness & suicides”), Trump responded: “How can ‘Senator’ Richard Blumenthal, who went around for twenty years as a Connecticut politician bragging that he was a great Marine war hero in Vietnam (then got caught and sobbingly admitted he was neither a Marine nor ever in Vietnam), pass judgement on anyone? Loser!”
The Hartford Courant explains Trump’s dig dates to 2010 when Blumenthal presented himself as having served “in” Vietnam while campaigning; though he was in the Marine Corps Reserve, he later admitted he never left US shores.
Politico adds that Kellyanne Conway appeared on Fox & Friends ahead of Trump’s tweets. “We don’t need a parade to celebrate all this president has done for those brave men and women in uniform,” she said.

Edited via Newser.

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