Many were surprised — and a bit saddened — to hear President Donald Trump give a highly partisan speech at the National Scout Jamboree. For roughly 80 years, Presidents have avoided political speeches at the event. That tradition was shattered in a big way by Trump on Monday before 40,000 scouts. Now the Boy Scouts of America has issued a formal apology to all of the parents about the content of Trump’s speech — a stinging rebuke for the President. The White House responded by refusing to apologize from the departure of 80 years of precedent.
Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh told parents “I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. That was never our intent. The invitation for the sitting U.S. president to visit the National Jamboree is a long-standing tradition. … We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program,”
Curiously, Trump himself seemed acknowledge the long-standing bar on political discussions shortly before he proceeded to talk politics:”Who the Hell wants to speak about politics when I’m in front of the Boy Scouts.”
Trump even used the Boy Scouts loyalty pledge to chastise the politically unreliable in Washington: “We could really use some more loyalty, I will tell you that.”
What is interesting is that these two events involve constituencies that have largely supported the President but both Scout leaders and military veterans criticized Trump for his injection of politics into the events.
Some conservatives have called for “true patriots” to sever ties with the Scouts, which seems perfectly bizarre to me. The tradition of leaving politics out of the Jamboree was a good one that past presidents have not found particularly difficult. The Scouts want to bring together families around common values and a connection to the outdoors. It is not about politics and that is a good thing.
What do you think?