Subdued Memorial Day events amid outbreak
President Trump honored America’s fallen service members on Monday as he commemorated Memorial Day in backtoback appearances in the midst of the pandemic.
“Together we will vanquish the virus and America will rise from this crisis to new and even greater heights,” Trump said during a ceremony at Baltimore’s historic Fort McHenry. “No obstacle, no challenge and no threat is a match for the sheer determination of the American people.”
Earlier, Trump silently honored the nation’s war dead at a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, which like Fort McHenry is currently off limits to the public because of the pandemic.
Many attendees arrived wearing masks but removed them for the outdoor ceremony in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Trump, maskless as always in public, gave no remarks. He approached a wreath already in place, touching it and giving a salute.
Trump then traveled to Baltimore, to the chagrin of the city’s mayor, and noted that tens of thousands of service members and national guard personnel are currently “on the front lines of our war against this terrible virus.”
Democratic Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young objected to Trump’s visit, saying it sends the wrong message about stayathome directives and the city cannot afford the added cost of hosting him when it is losing $20 million a month because of the pandemic.