The mayor of Baltimore wasn’t holding the president back.
President Donald Trump went ahead Monday with a planned Memorial Day visit to historic Fort McHenry, despite criticism from Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, who said the trip sets a poor example amid the coronavirus crisis.
“Dear Mr. President@realDonaldTrump, please stay home!” Young tweeted Thursday. “The City of Baltimore is currently under a Stay at Home order for the safety of our residents, who have been hit hard by #COVID19.”
The White House wasn’t buying it for a second, and Trump was en route to the city late Monday morning.
“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,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Fort McHenry is the scene of the battle during the War of 1812 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
While the national anthem in recent years has become more of a polarizing issue then a unifying one, thanks to showboating NFL protesters, disgruntled women’s soccer players and a consistently craven liberal media, Trump has never been shy about signaling his support for the song.
And while it’s true that Trump has had his own tangles with Democratic leaders of Baltimore (particularly the late Rep. Elijah Cummings), for an American president on Memorial Day, visiting the site that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner” is as natural as his planned visit earlier Monday to Arlington National Cemetery.
While much of the social media responses to Trump’s planned trip to Charm City included the usual liberal cesspool of abuse (even after three years of the Trump presidency, it only gets more vile), the president had plenty of supporters online.
He had support on the ground, too.
Fortunately, not all Maryland elected officials have a knee-jerk anti-Trump attitude.
Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, was not planning to attend Trump’s visit because he was spending the day with his family and celebrating his 64th birthday, the Sun reported Monday.
But last week, according to a Thursday Sun report, Hogan’s spokesman welcomed the president’s presence.
“We are honored that the president and first lady have chosen to spend Memorial Day at Fort McHenry,” Hogan communications director Mike Ricci said, according to the Sun. “Although Marylanders are encouraged not to gather in large numbers this year — now more than ever — it’s important to reflect on the American heroes who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.”
Democrats and the mainstream media might do well to remember that honoring those American heroes is what Memorial Day is supposed to be about.
For Trump to do that with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, the resting place of so many of those heroes, followed by a trip to the birthplace of the American national anthem isn’t just appropriate, it’s just about perfect.
And the mayor of Baltimore can’t hold the president back.
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