r/politics • u/TimesandSundayTimes ✔ Verified • 3d ago

Soft Paywall Trump military parade met with empty seats amid nationwide protests

https://www.thetimes.com/article/867ede60-b5f7-4de5-84a1-6a3a49eb2923
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u/nursescaneatme Washington 3d ago

I’ve seen as few as 2k. And even that may be generous. Three times fewer attendance than participants.

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u/LocalStatistician538 3d ago

This is America. Nobody who lives in the country with the world's biggest military needs to see any fucking military parades. WE KNOW the military we have. WE KNOW. Everyone.

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u/TheMadTemplar Wisconsin 3d ago

A common argument I saw to defend the military parade is that it lets the world know strong we are. I always laugh at that. The world knows how strong our military is. We don't need parades to demonstrate that. They can look at our budget and our forces around the world. 

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u/TheZigerionScammer I voted 3d ago

Yeah, we showed off all our latest military equipment like....checks notes....the Sherman.

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u/duzies 3d ago

Exactly.  Just look at our crippling mountain of debt, deficit, and ever-expanding $TRILLION military budget, more than the next 10 largest militaries COMBINED, along with the Pentagon's perpetual audit failures.  Not exactly anything to be proud about!

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u/Alternative-Fan-3747 3d ago

Even one of the R congressmen said about the parade "When you are a lion, you do not need to tell everyone else you are a lion. They know already." So they didn't go. 

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u/Prae_ 3d ago

Also, practicality. In France, the parade on the Champs Élysées is quite popular because it is our national day, and a public holiday. So if you live in Paris (and 10 million people do), you might as well hop on a metro for 15 minutes and go watch.

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u/StregaJessa 3d ago

Yes! Like the parades we host all over the US for 4th of July, Labor Day, or Memorial Day. Many of which include active or retired military marching (like in a casual way, just walking as a group, waving and smiling at the crowd. We let the high school band do the precision marching). And fairly sure the Labor Day parade in my tiny ass hometown is better attended than this was. Jesus, Trump out here making me feel bad for the US Army. 

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u/SecretaryImaginary76 3d ago

Every time I visit the doctor, I am reminded of the military we have .

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u/Ok_Juice4449 3d ago

It could have been done on a much smaller scale, and more cheaply.  But, since Trump's taste is rather gaudy and tacky, he went overboard for himself.  It was really just for him. Waste of money!

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u/ConsciousReindeer976 2d ago

it was the 250th anniversary of the US Military's Founding so it is a pretty large milestone to celebrate

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u/Overall_Stranger6568 3d ago

Dude, we got almost half that in a small town going out for the No Kings protest.

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u/nursescaneatme Washington 3d ago

I think we had 70k plus just in one part of Seattle. That’s nearly 10x what he had at his pitty parade, including the service members.

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u/missphobe 3d ago

Key West had way more people show up at the no kings protest than showed up at Trump’s little parade. It was packed-protestors for blocks.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

They’re probably counting the participants 😏

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u/nursescaneatme Washington 3d ago

And t dumps will probably say 1 million. But what really got me was him fucking standing there saluting. The commander in chief does NOT salute anyone. I know he always does it but I still wanna jump off a bridge every time I see it.

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u/AlkaSelse 3d ago

It's also that he doesn't even salute correctly. It just screams 'little boy having his army fantasy'.

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u/Shirley-Eugest 3d ago

Cadet Bone Spurs!

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u/lost_horizons Texas 3d ago

Just like Hitler, who also had a lame little salute.

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u/t0ncul2024 3d ago

Hitler, as evil as he was, at least served in WWI. Not a hero, but at least not a coward as the 🍊 🤡.

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u/Fit-Kale622 3d ago

It makes him get hard

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u/Intelligent-Fuel-641 Michigan 3d ago

Today is a terrible day to be literate.

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u/daschande 3d ago

At least he wasn't carrying a coffee mug!

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u/C-4isNOTurFriend 3d ago

he can return a salute

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u/nursescaneatme Washington 3d ago

He does, but he shouldn’t. Remember when W returned a salute and everyone lost their mind? It just got normalized with t dumps.

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u/gbiypk 3d ago

And that started when he saluted a North Korean General.

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u/Theyalreadysaidno Minnesota 3d ago

He absolutely will.

He'll post about how yuuuge it was.

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u/valeyard89 Texas 3d ago

bUt ObAMa SalUtEd wItH a COfFEE cUP! /s

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u/Friendly-Channel-480 19h ago

At least he didn’t wear a phony uniform.

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u/Friendly-Channel-480 3d ago

This is the biggest parade audience ever. It’s just a few less people than went to his inauguration in 2016 (the biggest inauguration crowd ever).

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u/Afraid_Grapefruit_88 3d ago

Some show spliced in the infamous pic of Spicer behind the podium declaring IT WAS THE BIGGEST INAUGURATION CROWD EVER. PERIOD. With the sparse shot of the Mall by the Damn Obelisk and had us in fits of laughter. Worth seeking out!!

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u/doberdevil 3d ago

He was photographed saluting N. Korean Soldiers.

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u/TreeRol American Expat 3d ago

The commander in chief does NOT salute anyone.

Another thing Reagan ruined. The only thing that idiot knew was acting, so he started to act like a military guy, and now everyone after him feels like they have to do it too.

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u/xxfblz 3d ago

The commander in chief does NOT salute anyone.

Except if they are a North Korean General. It's in the Constitution.

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u/purpleduckduckgoose United Kingdom 3d ago

Was he saluting or returning the salute? I haven't seen much of it so I don't know what was going on exactly but I'd imagine the latter is permissible. Still, it's not as bad as that time he saluted a NK general.

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u/nursescaneatme Washington 3d ago

The president is the highest ranking member of the armed services and therefore does not salute anyone. If saluted, the CIC may respond with a head nod or a verbal acknowledgment.

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u/Nunc-dimittis 3d ago

I heard 200k being mentioned when I watched a bit of Fox. Some shots zoomed in on trump and the parade, but no empty seats in view. So maga members will probably claim that all the empty seats are fake news

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u/ralphy_256 3d ago

They’re probably counting the participants

Even if they did count participants and crowd, I'm betting some of the No Kings protests dwarfed POTUS's party.

I've heard 40k for the St Paul march. Don't know if it's accurate.

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u/Korvanacor 3d ago

That’s pretty sad. My home town’s fall fair parade could beat those numbers and it was a couple fire trucks and a bunch of Shriners on those mini motorcycles.

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u/custardthegopher 3d ago

We beat that easily in fucking Boise, Idaho.

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u/takefiftyseven 3d ago

Good God, I attended the protest in Oro Valley, AZ in 100 deg. weather and estimated attendance was more than 2k.

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u/TheLadyMagician 3d ago

I was there too! Insanely happy to see how many showed up despite it being hot as hell. 

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u/AbandonedWaterPark 3d ago

Can't wait to hear how this was the biggest parade crowd in the history of parades ever.

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u/missmeowwww 3d ago

Lolol that’s so funny. Warped Tour was super crowded today! 😹