By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post Contributor
In a Fourth of July address from the National Mall in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump extolled American values, saying the country is unlike so many others around the world with promises of freedom and equal justice under the law, promising the “best is yet to come.”
Celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday hours after severe weather forced crowds to evacuate the grounds, Trump took the stage shortly after 11 p.m., about an hour and 15 minutes after the originally planned start of the rally.
Trump praised the freedoms that set the United States apart from the rest of the world.
“We will always be on top. We will never let our country fall,” Trump said. “We will always be the best. Our founders not only won our liberty, they secured it with the most righteous political document ever conceived. It’s called the Constitution of the United States. Very special.”
“Unlike so many others in the world, in this country we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equal justice under the law,” the president continued.
He said the country had stood for 250 years as “the hope, the promise, the light and the glory among all of the nations in the world,” telling the audience that “nobody can be like us.” American strength and power, he said, were “not something to be ashamed of, it is something that we are very proud of.”
Trump also warned about communism, echoing remarks he made in a speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday.
“We don’t want communists in our country,” he said. “It never worked, and it never will work.”
Trump honored veterans and Gold Star families and brought astronauts from the Artemis II mission onstage. He featured flags from American history, including one of the first U.S. flags ever made, the flag that draped Abraham Lincoln’s casket, and one pulled from the sunken USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. Veterans and Medal of Honor recipients came onstage at several points to salute.
The president told the story of Sgt. William Harvey Carney, the first African American man to win the Medal of Honor. He mentioned the “genius” of the founding fathers and referred to famous Americans like Davy Crockett, Wyatt Herp, Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill and Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
Trump also spoke about the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act), which would require anyone registering to vote in a federal election to show documentary proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate. A driver’s license or Social Security number alone would not be enough.
At his Mount Rushmore speech the previous evening, Trump argued that American identity was under renewed attack. He said communism was a mortal threat to American liberty and warned of a resurgence of a communist menace inside the country. He said the threat came in part from newcomers who embraced ideas opposed to the American way of life.
At the National Mall, President Trump closed on a note of national optimism, telling the crowd that “the best is yet to come” and that the moment marked “the dawn of the golden age of America.”
He opened the address by pledging allegiance to the flag “they gave us,” saying, “God bless the immortal patriots of 1776. And long live the cause of independence.”
The “Salute to America 250 Celebration & Fireworks” had been slated to begin at 7 p.m., but did not start until 10:45 p.m.
Crowds who had waited for hours in record heat were reportedly forced off the grounds because of thunderstorms. The preliminary high in the city on Saturday was 102 degrees, the hottest July 4 on record for Washington, breaking the previous mark of 100 degrees set on July 4, 1919, reports WJLA. Confusion ran through the crowd as dispersal orders went out.
Hundreds took refuge in nearby museums and federal buildings, and the mall later reopened, allowing attendees to return.
Temperatures had topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit earlier in the day, and some people were seen passing out. National Guard members distributed water.
The warm-up acts were familiar ones. Trump had tenor Christopher Macchio sing “God Bless America,” followed by Lee Greenwood singing “God Bless the USA.”
A fireworks display featuring more than 850,000 fireworks began after the president’s remarks. It was set to last about twice the length of a traditional Fourth of July show, according to the event organizer Freedom 250, a group formed by Trump allies.