WASHINGTON – They snapped. They stared off into area. They zipped into Senate elevators and smiled because the doorways closed with them safely inside.
That is how practically a dozen Senate Republicans reacted Wednesday when requested the only query: Do you intend to attend President Donald Trump’s army parade in D.C. on Saturday, and are you snug with its estimated $45 million price ticket?
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“I won’t be here in town, but I wish I was,” lamented Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.).
Requested concerning the tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} the occasion goes to value taxpayers, Fischer walked into a close-by Senate elevator and gazed into nothingness because the doorways closed.
A minimum of the Nebraska senator spoke. Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) clocked in at eight seconds of silence in response to HuffPost asking the identical query. With a giant grin, Budd slipped into one other elevator and stood there, ready for the doorways to shut.
“Nope,” Sen. Todd Younger (R-Ind.) stated, fidgeting on his cellphone, when requested if he deliberate to attend. He let loose a giant sigh when requested concerning the parade’s price ticket, and began speaking about unrelated laws.
“I’m focused on the trillions right now, which is the reconciliation bill,” Younger stated. “So I think my constituents would assess that my priorities are appropriate.”
Requested if which means he’s snug with how a lot Trump’s army occasion will value taxpayers, he snapped: “I answered the question.”
When HuffPost identified he didn’t really reply the query, Younger interrupted, “I answered the question I wanted to answer!’
Bill Clark via Getty Images
Saturday’s parade is being billed as a celebration of the Army’s 250th anniversary, but it’s also timed with Trump’s 79th birthday. The event will feature thousands of soldiers, 150 military vehicles and more than 50 aircraft being rolled around the streets of D.C.
Millions of people nationwide will be protesting Trump at the same time as his parade, in response to his harsh crackdown on immigration enforcement and his decision to deploy the U.S. military to Los Angeles to respond to unrest there. The “No Kings Day” protests are taking place in all 50 states and in additional than 1,500 cities, although not in D.C.
An apparent cause Senate Republicans don’t wish to discuss the price of this parade is that they’ve been on a tear about slashing so-called authorities waste since Trump took workplace, and a large army parade for the president isn’t precisely important.
“I might be,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) stated of attending the parade. As for its prices? “Uh, I have not looked into the price.”
However GOP senators additionally don’t wish to say something that can anger the president, even when deep down, they’re not blissful about spending tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} on one thing that the second-highest-ranking U.S. basic instructed Trump in his first time period is “what dictators do.” So that they appear to be choosing going silent or fleeing the scene.
“I am committed in Boise,” Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) stated of his plans for Saturday. “I appreciate the Army and the fact that they’re 250 years old.”
As for the price of the army parade, he simply walked away, saying, “That’s all you’re going to get.”
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) dismissed any dialog in any respect about it, saying she doesn’t “do hallway interviews.” (Most conversations with the press occur in Senate hallways.)
“No comment,” stated Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). “No comment.”
Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
To be sure, a few Republicans said they were fine with the costs to put on the event.
“Listen, the Army has done a lot for us,” stated Sen. Markwayne Mullen (R-Okla.). “The idea that we get to celebrate their 250th birthday, I think they deserve to have a good celebration.”
He won’t be there, though. “It is my 28th wedding anniversary,” he said. “I choose marriage.”
Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) said he’s very supportive of “a celebration of our president’s birthday,” and the costs of the parade don’t bother him because he wants it to look impressive to people in other countries.
“I mean, if you go out there with, you know, two jeeps and an M-16, you know, how does the world perceive that?” Justice said. “Come on now, this is America, you know?… If we’re going to do it, let’s put on a big show.”
Out of 14 GOP senators, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the one one HuffPost talked to who criticized holding the parade. It’s not just because of its hefty costs, he said, but also because he doesn’t think ”the symbolism of tanks and missiles” represents what the United States is all about.
“If you ask me about a military parade, all the images that come to mind, the first images, are of the Soviet Union and North Korea,” he stated.
