Talking About U.S. Politics: Why did the major TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN) not broadcast Trump's “Salute to America”?

On Quora, Trump supporter Larry Walden asks:

Why did the major TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN) not broadcast Trump's “Salute to America”?

My reply:

Because it was a ridiculous, poorly planned and expensive exercise that few people were interested in watching.

First of all, the Fourth of July has never, ever been an occasion to showcase military hardware. It’s a national holiday, sure, but it’s traditionally a family-oriented one in which most Americans celebrate America’s birthday with picnics, concerts (some of which, such as The Capitol Fourth and Pops Goes the Fourth, are broadcast live from Washington, D.C., and Boston), and fireworks displays. The Fourth of July is a festive occasion and not a martial one; the armed forces of the U.S. already get their due on Memorial Day (when we commemorate the fallen) and Veterans’ Day (when we commemorate not only the anniversary of the end of World War I, but remember our living veterans from our modern wars).

Second of all, the Salute to America was already controversial for two reasons. One, Trump once again demanded that there be a military parade with tanks down Pennsylvania Avenue. I am not sure if the asker remembers, but the Pentagon was not happy when Trump floated this very idea last year for another occasion, and neither were most Americans. (His base, or at least some of it, anyway, blindly supported this, despite the fact that the U.S. does not have a tradition of parades with tanks and troops passing through the streets of Washington. The last time we had such a display of troops was in June of 1991, and that was a “Welcome Home” to the men and women who had just fought a successful campaign to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. And there were no tanks.

Look, just because other countries have military parades to display their military hardware in order to intimidate others or to compensate for their leaders’ shortcomings in other areas does not mean we have to follow suit, The Russians, North Koreans, Iranians, and the French love to do this kind of expensive and macho bullshit parade stuff. We don’t.

As to why ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, or CNN did not air the Narcissist in Chief’s silly display of force and even sillier speech; it was a business decision, just like any other such decision based on ratings. The programmers at the networks already had programs scheduled for the Fourth of July, and (regardless of the support from his base), Trump remains highly unpopular, both in the U.S. and abroad. Very few people wanted to watch the “Salute to America” because (rightly or wrongly) they perceived it as being a Presidential campaign event rather than a “let’s unite all Americans on the Fourth of July” one.

As it is, the event was a washout, both literally (thunderstorms dumped several inches of rain on Washington during the parade) and figuratively, with Trump delivering a speech that was more comical than it was inspirational.

The tanks, fortunately, did not roar through the streets of Washington as Trump had wanted, but by diverting $2.5 million from the National Parks’ budget, two M-1 Abrams tanks flanked the President as he gave his rain-sodden speech.

To be fair to the man, Trump stuck to the speech that was written for him. But that speech was full of errors that makes one wonder what his speechwriters were drinking when they wrote it.

In the speech, Trump not only said that the Continental Army fought bravely against the British at Ft. McHenry during the Revolution, but that it had done everything possible to fight for independence, including taking over airports.

First of all, Ft. McHenry was not even built before or during the Revolution, which took place between 1775 and 1781. Ft. McHenry was built in 1798, 15 years after the signing of the Treaty of Paris which ended the war between Britain and the United States and confirmed America’s status as an independent country.

Moreover, the Continental Army did not take over any airports during the Revolution….because airplanes did not yet exist. Even hot air balloons were 13 years in the future on July 4, 1776.

“In June of 1775 the Continental Congress created a unified Army out of the Revolutionary Forces encamped around Boston and New York, and named after the great George Washington, commander-in-chief. The Continental Army suffered a bitter winter of Valley Forge, found glory across the waters of the Delaware and seized victory from Cornwallis of Yorktown,” Trump said.

Then, he went off the rails and seemingly mixed up the Revolutionary War with the War of 1812. “Our Army manned the air, it rammed (?) the ramparts, it took over airports, it did everything it had to do. And at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, had nothing but victory. When dawn came, the star-spangled banner waved defiant.”

I skipped this horror show. So did millions of Americans. The TV networks covered the “festivities,” but knowing that few people would watch, they did not carry it live on TV.