Trump honors nation’s fallen in two events
Baltimore mayor criticizes visit
WASHINGTON – Amid a pandemic on the brink of claiming 100,000 American lives, President Donald Trump made Memorial Day visits to a military cemetery and a historic fort on Monday – and paid homage to service members responding to the coronavirus.
“I stand before you at this noble fortress of American liberty to pay tribute to the immortal souls who fought and died to keep us free,” Trump said at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, where he and first lady Melania Trump held their hands over their hearts as a fife and drum corps played the national anthem.
“Tens of thousands of service members and national guardsmen are on the front lines of our war against this terrible virus,” Trump said. “As one nation, we mourn alongside every single family that has lost loved ones, including the families of our great veterans.”
A few hundred people gathered outside at the fort, which was decorated with red, white and blue banners.
Earlier, as a military bugler played taps, Trump followed the tradition of placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, which is closed to the public. The brief ceremony honored “those who have died for our great Nation while serving in the US Armed Forces,” the White House said in a statement.
This Memorial Day comes as the United States braces to pass 100,000 deaths, part of the coronavirus pandemic that has forced the shutdown of state economies and limited public events. More than 1.6 million Americans have tested positive for the virus and about 98,000 had died as of midday Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
During the War of 1812, American soldiers at Fort McHenry defended Baltimore from attack by the British. The raising of a large American flag at the fort inspired the poem that turned into the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
In light of the pandemic, however, Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack”
Young criticized Trump’s visit as a poor example for the nation.
“That President Trump is deciding to pursue nonessential travel sends the wrong message to our residents,” the Democratic mayor said in a statement.
Monday’s visit came just over a week after Maryland began to lift some of the restrictions it had put in place for the coronavirus, though they remain in effect in Baltimore. Baltimore and the Washington area have the nation’s highest percentages of positive cases, according to Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force.
In response to Young, White House spokesman Judd Deere said: “The brave men and women who have preserved our freedoms for generations did not stay home and the President will not either as he honors their sacrifice by visiting such a historic landmark in our nation’s history.”
Trump is intent on accelerating his schedule as he portrays the country as returning to its pre-pandemic ways. This month, Trump has toured factories in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan that make pandemic supplies. He planned to be in Florida on Wednesday to watch two NASA astronauts rocket into space, and he played golf at his private club in Virginia on Saturday and Sunday.