This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 412

… Despite a brutal heat wave gripping Washington, DC that sent many to emergency rooms on Friday with even worse weather forecasted for the 4th, Trump was determined to press forward and deliver his anti-communism speech to the MAGA faithful after a long series of military flyovers before a massive arsenal of fireworks were launched.

This Bulletin is going to be different than my traditional Weekend Bulletin. As I said on Friday, since it is the Sunday after a holiday I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do this one or if there would be enough political news to do a normal Bulletin.

I also had to prep and pre-record with Anthony today our special edition of Uncovered focusing on the socialist movement in the Democratic Party as well as Trump and Republicans’ response to it heading into the midterms, and that took a considerable amount of time.

So what I decided to do was just make this Bulletin solely about Trump’s 4th of July event in DC since that dominated the news cycle this weekend.

We make the entire Weekend Bulletins available to free subscribers, who are also able to participate in the comments section. Tomorrow is also Ask the Editor where I answer 5 of your questions for the show. If you have a question or a topic you want me to talk more about, please submit it in the comments below.

If you missed Friday’s more traditional Bulletin, you can find it here.

… As the day began, the right-wing white national group Patriot Front showed up in big numbers to march through the area before departing the scene on the metro. Mitchell Miller with WTOP: “A group of masked men gathered at Union Station today and called for reclaiming the country and getting rid of immigrants. Some held Confederate flags. They have been marching across Capitol Hill.”

… Fox host Laura Ingraham posted: “I call fake. Looks more like Antifa in costume. No one should be allowed to cover their faces.”

… Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT): “Are these really the most believable fake white supremacists Southern Poverty Law Center money can buy?”

… They used to claim that Patriot Front were undercover FBI agents conducting false flag operations to try to discredit MAGA, including Lee specifically. But now that Kash Patel has run the FBI for 18 months they needed a new story. So now they are apparently Antifa in disguise.

… Independent journalist Ford Fischer: “Pardoned J6er Jake Lang showed up at the Supreme Court along with his friend Jayden Scott holding a sign demanding ‘BAN WOMEN FROM THE SUPREME COURT.’”

… Trump’s new Qatar Force One did a flyover for the crowd - because nothing exhibits good old fashioned 4th of July American patriotism like flying a grifted Qatari jet over the US Capital.

… Health activist Bryan Johnson: “DC is giving itself a hazardous dose of toxins tonight:

• largest fireworks in U.S. history

• dropping 9 metric tons of toxic chemicals on city

• air quality 2-8x higher than “hazardous”

• toxins 17-57x higher than acceptable levels

• chemicals settling into ground, water, food

… People will inhale:

• Strontium: deposits in lung tissue

• Barium: potent gastrointestinal, cardiac toxicant

• Aluminum oxides: pulmonary inflammation

• Titanium oxides: pulmonary inflammation

• Copper: oxidative stress respiratory

• Antimony, trace compounds: known carcinogen

… “It will be an acute exposure. Is there another way to celebrate our 250th?”

… A woman protester was out there mocking Trump by passing out Reflecting Pool Jello Shots to attendees.

… Trump posted: “Despite the heat, which isn’t as bad as predicted, the crowds in DC are INCREDIBLE! The love of our Country has never been stronger! The Air Shows are at a level never seen before - What great pilots, what great equipment!!! See you all later! Speaking at around 10:00 P.M. at The Lincoln Memorial.”

… “The Reflecting Pool looks great, despite all it went through with the Vandal Thugs. Will quickly drain and fix the damage done right after this big weekend. Happy Independence Day. Our Country is Stronger than EVER!!!”

… As the festivities were ongoing and a large group of Trump supporters were gathering at the site of the speech, the weather got progressively worse as a vicious sandstorm kicked up, which was added to the oppressive heat and humidity. This came after a golf-ball size hail storm delayed Trump’s speech the night before at Mt. Rushmore.

… God is angry.

… Freedom 250 announcement: "The safety of our guests, performers, and staff is our top priority. Due to approaching severe storms, Freedom 250, US Secret Service, US Park Police, National Park Service, FEMA, and all public safety partners are asking all guests to evacuate event grounds and seek temporary shelter in a nearby building.”

… “Available shelter locations include the Dept of Commerce, Dept of Education, Department of Ag, IRS, VOA Building, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, National Museum of American History, National Museum of Natural History, the African American Museum, and the Ronald Reagan Building. Please remain calm, follow the directions of law enforcement and event staff, and stay tuned to Freedom 250's official channels for updates.”

… Local DC news anchor Jim Lokay: “From Freedom 250’s live feed: ‘Remaining flyovers canceled. Please depart event site.’ There were 4 more scheduled flyovers including a Golden Knights Twilight Jump.”

… Journalist Sami Gold: “Currently trying to evade the DC storm by staying in the African American Museum with 5,000 Trump supporters.”

… VA Senate president L. Louise Lucas: “God’s plan to educate them.”

… Gold with an update: “Someone just asked me to join a megachurch. I was singing the song ‘Tukoh Taka’ by Nicki Minaj and someone asked if I’m speaking in tongues (they blessed me).

… Brianne Chapman, who goes by ‘Anarchy Princess’ on social media: “Fair is closed for now. I can’t upload anything at the moment. I’m blind in one eye from the insane sand storm that ripped through.”

… Chapman with an update: “After about an hour of pain, I finally gave in and had a medic flush my eye. Didn’t work. So they sent me to a specific medic tent with doctors which is how we ended up in the maga mosh pit. No one knew shit about fuck. Mass chaos. Anyway I still can’t see out of one eye. But HSI was there to escort me around between ambulances.”

… Law enforcement had a difficult time getting Trump supporters to evacuate the area after the event shut down. Somewhat surprising that MAGA failed to obey commands from DC law enforcement since that has never happened before. (sarcasm). National Guard troops resorted to flipping tables to keep them from congregating.

… Journalist Oliya Scootercaster: “BREAKING: Crowds Chant ‘USA!’ as a line of Secret Service Agents push them back away from the stage near the Washington Monument in DC during the Great American State Fair.”

… Journalist Amanda Moore: “This evacuation was a disaster and took over an hour. There is no structure or order outside the venue, even as people crowd and try to line back up. People are upset and saying they’re going home. No matter what happens now, today is ruined for a lot of families who came here.”

… “No one working has any fucking idea what is going on and we’re all just standing in the rain while they drive ambulances through the crowd every 2 minutes.”

… Fox host Bret Baier: “President Trump tells Fox that he will be going forward with his speech no matter what: ‘Maybe it will be a little bit shorter but I am going to do it whether it’s 10 PM, 11 PM, or even 2 AM. If they can storm the beaches on D-Day, I can deliver a speech.”

… Democratic strategist Michelle Kinney: “Trump has now compared giving his speech tonight to the thousands of World War 2 veterans who invaded Europe and stormed the beaches at Normandy in 1944. There is no limit to his vile buffoonery.”

… Freedom 250 announcement: “At President Trump's direction, gates to the National Mall will reopen at 9:45 PM. The Salute to America celebration will move forward, the President will deliver remarks at 11:00 PM, and the fireworks spectacular will follow. Rain or shine, the American people deserve a celebration worthy of our nation's historic 250th birthday.”

… “For 250 years, Americans have overcome every challenge with grit, resilience, and determination. A little rain will never diminish our pride, our patriotism, or our celebration of the greatest nation in the history of the world.”

… Spencer Brooks with WUSA9: “DC’s Office of Unified Communications reports it has received 3,329 911 calls citywide today. About 600 calls higher than a typical summer Saturday at this time, primarily due to fireworks-related incidents and the evacuation at the National Mall.”

… Trump then posted on Truth Social: “Storms bring luck to whatever the occasion. They also make events a little bit more exciting! We will wait it out, I don’t care if it’s 2:00 O’Clock in the morning, or in one hour from now. Looks like it is going to pass, they always do. I will be there no matter what, but the “what” usually turns out to be a good thing. It’s Saturday night, LETS HAVE SOME FUN, even if we are out late tonight.”

… “They say 11:00 O’Clock for the speech. Who cares??? Our great veterans, especially the old timers, many of whom are there, went through hellfire, and it didn’t stop them. It’s not going to stop us either! I’m not going to let some rain stop our 250th. I’m leaving the WH soon. God Bless America!”

… Trump then arrived at 11:00 PM to give his speech. Less that half the original attendees who were evacuated returned for the speech. Naturally, he wildly exaggerated the crowd size:

• “They estimated they had 375,000 people before everybody had to leave and they now have 150,000 people. It’s a craziest thing anyone’s ever seen.”

… Fox reported that Trump was disappointed so many didn’t return: “Trump is disappointed in one way - they had a lot of people that were making their way in. The line was really long. He’s disappointed at that but determined to let the show go on.”

• On socialists: “The stars and stripes cast the hammer and sickle into oblivion before and we will do it again if necessary. I don’t think it’s going to be necessary. We’re going to handle it very well.”

• “Our warriors did not fight communism on battlefields across the world, only to have that menace rear its ugly head right back here in America. We’re not going to let it happen. We’d like to stop a threat like that immediately. It’s like a cancer. You’ve got to cut it out. You’ve got to cut it out fast.”

• “And as our Declaration of Independence tells us, we are all made in the image of one almighty god. And a communist will never say that.”

… It does not say that.

• “We want to keep America great and we will do so by approving the Save act which means all voters must show voter ID. You will not have cheating in the elections.”

• “Unlike so many others in the world, we have equal justice under the law. Although I was not treated that well but we will not get into that.”

• On the Civil War: “It was a very big, big deal at the time.”

… Many people did not know this.

• “We rebuilt our military in my first term. We use it a little in our -- actually I should say third term, but I won’t do that, because I don’t want any controversy.”

… Trump then dozed off during the fireworks display, which actually happened after midnight on the 5th of July.

Kent Nishimura/Getty

… Amanda Moore: “It started pouring rain minutes after the fireworks.”

… Moore with a final update: “Absolutely bonkers standstill line at L’enfant Plaza after the fireworks, even though WMATA is free.”

… DC photographer Joe Flood posted a hazy photo at 9:24 AM the following morning with this caption: “Everything around the Reflecting Pool is covered in a fine layer of ash. Maybe it will kill off the algae.”