Trump talk drags Scouts back into culture wars
Presidents who have previously addressed jamborees have typically spoken about service, values and citizenship, not partisan politics
The plan seemed mutually beneficial: President Donald Trump would bask in an adulatory slice of Americana and the Boy Scouts of America would host yet another sitting president at its national jamboree. But Trump’s decision to mix a barrage of political remarks into a speech that has traditionally been an uncontroversial stream of upbeat oratory has enraged many parents and former Scouts, thrust the Scouts once again into the middle of the nation’s culture wars and provided yet another example of the unusual and polarizing nature of the Trump presidency.
The Scouts, plainly sensing a new threat that supporters feared could undermine a movement whose membership was already sagging, said in a statement that it was “wholly nonpartisan and does not promote any one political position, candidate or philosophy.” The group added that its traditional speaking invitation to the president was “in no way an endorsement of any person, party or policies.”
The Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts was somewhat blunter, saying Scouting is an apolitical organization, and “it is inappropriate for any President to use the Jamboree as a backdrop for political statements.”
It was far from clear that Tuesday’s efforts by the Scouts would calm an uproar that began even before Trump concluded his address Monday night. Although Scouting offices and social media accounts were besieged with messages condemning the president’s appearance, others celebrated Trump’s speech in West Virginia. “Trump gave a great speech to the Boy Scouts and they chanted back “We love Trump!,” read a Twitter post in the name of Shaun Hough (“Philosopher, conservative, libertarian”). “I love it!!”
Either way, the firestorm was unwelcome, and unexpected, during one of Scouting’s most important events, a gathering that attracts people from around the world and, very often, presidents, who have typically spoken about service, values and citizenship, not partisan politics.
Reaction to the speech, delivered to an enthusiastic audience of saluting and cheering Scouts, was immediate and visceral.
Glenn Elvig, a Minnesota artist who fondly recalled receiving a letter from Richard M. Nixon congratulating him on achieving the Eagle rank decades ago, said he called a Scouting office for hours on Tuesday to express his dismay. He kept getting a busy signal. “I would like a public denouncement of what happened yesterday and reaffirmation of the values I think I learned in Scouts,” Elvig said. “If they can’t do that, I will be returning my medal.”
Brian Alexander, who earned the Eagle rank as a teenager in Ohio, said he was also outraged after seeing clips of Trump’s speech. Alexander sent several messages to Boy Scout officials on Twitter, calling the address “a disgrace.”
Alexander’s complaint, echoed by many other veterans of Scouting, was not that Trump had been invited to the jamboree, but that he had opted to use his appearance as he did.
“I can guarantee there were people in that audience of 40,000 who agreed with what he said,” said Alvin Townley, the author of Legacy of Honor, a frequent gift to newly minted Eagle Scouts. “There were also plenty of people in that audience who did not agree with what he said, and there were probably plenty of people, whether they agreed with him or not, who felt it was an inappropriate venue to discuss politics.”
In the opening moments of his appearance, it seemed that Trump, who was not a Boy Scout as a youth, would mostly avoid talking about the partisan clashes that have riven Washington.
But Trump, the 19th occupant of the White House to also serve as the honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America, ultimately speckled his remarks with political speech that proved startling at a Scout gathering.
He recounted the battleground states he won in last year’s election. He said Hillary Clinton “didn’t work hard” in Michigan, eliciting boos at the mention of his opponent’s name. He resurfaced his grievances with “fake news” and repeatedly doubted that the press would report the size of the jamboree crowd. And when he landed on the second point of the Scout Law — loyalty — Trump interrupted himself to say, “We could use some more loyalty, I will tell you that.”
More than a dozen current Republican officeholders who were Scouts declined to comment on Tuesday, but a spokeswoman for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who also attended the jamboree, said he thought the speech was “very well received,” and he “appreciated the President taking the time to talk with America’s future leaders.”
But the president’s tone and message alarmed many other people with ties to the Scouts.