During the July Fourth “Salute to America” in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump turned the tables on critics who tried to frame it as a political stunt orchestrated by the Commander in Chief.

The event was to honor America and especially those veterans, past and present, who sacrificed to keep us free. The flyovers to honor each of the services, a demonstration by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight squadron and the display of Abrams tanks and other vehicles at the National Mall showcased America as the strongest and most advanced military in the world.

Well before the president took to the podium to give us a history primer on July Fourth, the liberal media and most Democratic candidates for 2020 were dismissing the star-spangled event.

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor who has been chastised by his own police department in South Bend, Indiana, was one of the critics who called the Independence Day celebration a jingoistic display befitting a despot.

By showing off America’s military might, President Trump was not breaking new ground.

In 1953, the media had no problem when tanks rolled down Pennsylvania Avenue during Dwight Eisenhower’s inaugural parade, or in 1963, when John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, paraded tanks as well as missiles through the nation’s capitol.

Before the “Salute to America,” about 40 Gold Star mothers and wives gathered on the U.S. Capitol lawn for an anti-socialism “Rally for Freedom” designed to educate the American people about the dangers of socialism, which is part of an extreme agenda pushed by candidates on the far left.

Karen Vaughn, a Gold Star mother whose son Aaron sacrificed his life in defense of our nation, said that every single person who signs up to fight in the Armed Forces does it to protect and defend the Constitution and our way of life.

Vaughn said that losing the very nation that our sons, daughters and husbands died for to defend is not something the Gold Star families are willing to accept.

The Gold Star message to socialists in America, she said, is “not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

Jon Voight, a conservative actor who is a staunch defender of the president’s policies, told the Gold Star mothers that our fallen heroes had risked everything by putting their lives on the line, just like the nation’s Founding Fathers.

He said if the Democratic candidates knew anything about history since World War II, they’d realize that socialism is an economic sinkhole that has produced nothing but misery and violence.

In answer to those in the liberal media, the Hollywood elitists or those in the Congress who criticized the administration for overspending on the July Fourth celebration, the president had a quick response.

“The cost to me was worth it for all of our American citizens, so when it comes to thanking our veterans and doing the right thing, the cost is worth it to me. It should be to everyone else,” Trump said.

Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry, an Army Ranger who lost part of his arm in a battle in Afghanistan in 2008 agrees with the president. Petry served eight tours of duty between Iraq and Afghanistan and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic action, which saved a number of lives.

When asked about those who criticize the amount of money spent on the July Fourth celebration, Petry held up his prosthesis to emphasize the sacrifice he and so many other veterans before him have made.

Just that single gesture was enough to shame any political trash-talker who railed against the administration for providing American citizens with a first-class birthday celebration.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com