Anti-Trump Washington Post columnist admits he loved military parade
Boot wrote he was initially concerned that President Donald Trump would turn the parade — held Saturday to honor the U.S. Army's 250th birthday — into a "political pageant."
"But my apprehension began to melt away as soon as the music started to play and the soldiers began to march. Dear reader, I hope you do not think I am going soft on Trump if I tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the entire parade," Boot wrote.
Boot said he loved watching soldiers marching in period uniforms and added that he was "thrilled" by the flyovers.
Prior to the parade, "The View" co-host Sara Haines said the event reminded her of Russia and North Korea.
"I think of Russia and North Korea and visuals of people saluting and doing things and that's just not what I think of when I think of the U.S.," she said on Friday.
However, Boot described the celebration as "America's army on display."
"This was not a menacing, goose-stepping parade a la Moscow or Pyongyang. It was America's army on display, and I appreciated how many of the GIs were women or ethnic minorities — a reminder of the limits of [Secretary of Defense Pete] Hegseth's anti-DEI purges in a force that truly represents the entire country," Boot wrote.
The anti-Trump columnist said one of the controversial parts of the parade included the "participation of [the] 70-ton M1 Abrams tank," as it could "recall unpleasant images from other countries of what happens when tanks enter the capital."
"But I enjoyed seeing the smoke-belching monsters rattle down the street, and it was hard to see anything threatening about it when the crew members were smiling and waving at the spectators and, in some cases, making heart gestures with their hands," Boot said.
Boot said his enjoyment of the parade was likely due to the fact that he wasn't near where Trump sat and spoke.
"I was greatly relieved that Trump, in a rare amount of self-control, kept his remarks short and focused on the Army — not, as is usually the case, on glorifying himself or bashing his political opponents," he wrote.
Boot also pointed to a Rolling Stone headline that read, "Trump's military birthday was a gross failure," adding, "I think that's right, but the flip side is that the Army's military parade was an absolute success."
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