Army Secretary Dan Driscoll pushed back against critics of the military parade in Washington, D.C., arguing the event will “continue the strength and recruiting” of the military.
The parade, which will celebrate the military’s 250th anniversary, will take place in Washington on Saturday, which is also President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. While Democrats, including Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), have criticized the event as a celebration of Trump and “his power,” Driscoll described two problems with such accusations: how old the military is and how long ago it started planning for this celebration.
“Thing one is as if the Army, 170 years before the president was even born, could have lined this up to be his birthday,” Driscoll said on Fox News’s Fox & Friends. “It is just insanity to me that they are pushing back on this idea that we want to celebrate our 250th anniversary with an entity and a body that has done so much for this nation and that so many people have this incredible connection to. And the second thing is, to your point, the Army started planning this long in advance because what we believe is, this will continue the strength and recruiting and retention that we have, as young Americans across the country get to see all of the amazing things that the Army has done.”
Driscoll argued the parade would be “an incredible opportunity” for the Army to “fill up our pipeline for the years to come” and called it “offensive” how anyone would be in opposition to this celebration.
In addition to Democratic lawmakers, at least two Republicans, Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and John Kennedy (R-LA), have voiced criticism over the event regarding the “image” it will present to the public.
TRUMP WARMS TO RECONCILIATION WITH MUSK, SAYS APOLOGY WAS ‘VERY NICE’
While the cost of the parade is estimated to be between $25 million and $45 million, Trump largely dismissed the cost as “peanuts compared to the value of doing it.”
On Tuesday, the president warned that any protesters at the parade will be “met with very big force,” adding that there are “people who hate our country.” It comes as the political organization “No Kings” is coordinating multiple protests across the United States on the same day of the parade.
