Six in 10 Americans don’t think that a $45 million military parade on President Donald Trump’s birthday is a good use of taxpayer money, according to an Associated Press poll.
The extravaganza, which will feature as many as 25 tanks rolling through the streets of Washington, D.C., is slated for June 14—the day Trump turns 79. The parade is billed as a 250th-anniversary celebration of the U.S. Army’s founding.
Just 40 percent of Americans polled by the AP approved of the lavish celebration, while 29 percent disapproved and the rest were neutral. Along political lines, only 20 percent of Democrats approved, in contrast with 67 percent of Republicans.
When it came to the price tag, 80 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Independents did not think it was worthwhile spending. Republicans were of a different mind—nearly two thirds signed off on the hefty bill.
The parade will feature approximately 8,000 soldiers marching alongside the tanks. Its cost includes a new paint job for the tanks and repairing D.C. roads not equipped to bear their weight.
On Tuesday, Trump offered a bizarre justification for the parade: without the military, Americans would have lost WWII and would now be speaking German or Japanese.
“If it weren’t for us, you would be speaking German right now, ok?” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “You might be speaking Japanese, too. You might be speaking a combination of both.”
“It’s gonna be an amazing day,” Trump added. “We’ll have tanks, we’ll have planes, we’ll have all sorts of things. I think it’s gonna be great.”
Despite the president’s enthusiasm, not many of his Republican colleagues are planning to attend. Out of 50 surveyed by Politico, just seven said they would go—including, of course, Trump diehard Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The army anticipates that 200,000 people will attend.
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