It’s July 4th weekend and Trump has been globetrotting to the Black Hills and back like a televangelist spreading the Good News that COVID is behind us and protecting graven images is our birthright!
And, of course, to visit the temple sanctuary and safe-place: Trump National Golf Club.
Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast has him leaving DC at 9:34 a.m. and arriving at the golf course at 10:11 a.m. At that time there were a handful of protesters outside the golf course to greet the motorcade and one dog-walker, who offered a slight change of pace. Instead of a middle-finger, there was a “thumbs-up.”
One protester’s sign read “HUGE FAILURE.” The other read “CREEPY SPEECH.” Another said, “RESIGN.”
By the time it was all over, the small group grew. A Trump 2020 group, refusing to social distance or wear masks, tried to cut in along with “the Jeep guy” who did his thing. And of course, the club did their thing too:
By 1:30 p.m. protesters sighted the Jeep and driver with the American Flag and Trump banner. Last week, he was stopped by a Loudoun County Sheriff Officer (LCSO) after receiving reports that he was making illegal U-turns. He was also playing Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American” at a loud volume.
Today, he was stopped briefly by law enforcement. Afterward, he was allowed to drive unimpeded up and down the road, which he did so in a safe manner with his music turned down. He complied for the duration of the protest.
Also added to the mix was a small group of pro-Trump supporters. They deliberately took up the high-visibility corner at the club entrance. There were three men and one woman, none wearing masks holding an American flag and a Trump 2020 banner. Two other supporters also unmasked, sat on the stonewall of the club behind them. Usually, Secret Service doesn’t allow anyone that close, as the golf course is private property.
There was quite a bit of verbal bickering that went back and forth between the two groups. Most of the exchanges only proved the point that neither side was interested in being converted. Trump supporters recited fact-challenged assertion or simply blamed Obama for whatever was wrong now. Trump protesters, given their much larger size, found it more successful to simply drown out the “own the libs” barbs with cries of “Traitor!” and “Black Lives Matter!”
For whatever reason, the “Black Lives Matter” cheer seemed to really touch a nerve with one of the Trump supporters who continually tried to find a way to argue the line that BLM supporters are racist or that if you aren’t Black and are a BLM supporter then this exposes some deep hypocrisy.
I don’t pretend to understand the tribalism of the small mind. Nor do I try to amplify it, but here’s a little snippet:
About twenty minutes after the sprinklers were turned on, Trump’s motorcade left. Despite there being a larger group than last week, the motorcade detail seemed more relaxed than on Friday.
An LCSO SUV blocked the outbound travel lanes so that the motorcade could enter traffic and leave unimpeded. There were no Secret Service agents holding protesters back on the sidewalks and all vehicles used the outermost lane farthest from the sidewalk.
Trump was spotted sitting on the far side of one of the vehicles wearing a red hat and polo shirt as described later by the WH Pool report when the motorcade returned to the White House at 3:43 p.m and a press LID was called 4 minutes later.
Here’s an obligatory motorcade count as well as some of the crowd chanting:
“Black Lives Matter!”, “Traitor”
“The Mask is off. He’s a traitor!”
Many of the protesters and supporters are from the surrounding neighborhood. Normally when a group of Trump supporters comes, they are smaller and take up space across the street from the golf course. It’s hard to tell if this Trump group plans to show up as regularly as the protesters who have been here for almost 4 years of ongoing protests. But it would be interesting to see if they do and simultaneously claim that Trump doesn’t golf more than any other president.
The Mask Is Off!
As of this weekend, Trump has played golf 258 times.
It has cost the American taxpayer $136,000,000.00
