A Russian state TV news program laughed at President Donald Trump’s Fourth of July parade this week. According to the Washington Post, the hosts of Rossiya 1’s 60 Minutes program ridiculed everything about Trump’s “A Salute to America” military extravaganza.
One of the hosts, Yevgeny Popov, chided the president, saying sarcastically, “The greatest parade of all time is going to be held today in Washington, that is what our Donald Trump has said.”
Popov roasted Trump, saying, “The American president announced he would show us the newest tanks.” But, “these are Abrams and Sherman tanks, used during World War II and withdrawn from service in 1957.”
Co-host Olga Skabeyeva joined in the mock-fest, saying, “The paint on these vehicles is peeling off. There are no cannons, and their optics have been glued on with adhesive tape.”
Artem Krasulin, a journalist on Rossiya 24, noted that some of the weapons looked “battered” and they did not even look complete. “
Skabayeva tweeted footage of the tanks being towed and added laughing emojis while writing, “Putin’s America.”
Танки на улицах Вашингтона, Трамп к параду готовится
Putin’s America? pic.twitter.com/gnRBcjgTmA— Olga Skabeeva (@OSkabeeva) July 4, 2019
Russian media analyst Julia Davis, who said the broadcast bashed Trump’s “A Salute to America” speech, calling him “weak” and “low energy”— a nickname that Trump used to chide Jeb Bush during the 2016 Republican primaries.
Davis also wrote that the commentators laughed at Trump’s ignorance when during the speech he said that American troops in the Revolutionary War “took over airports.”
Russia’s state TV is obsessively bashing Trump’s “low energy,” “weak” parade with “rusty tanks.” The hosts LOL at Trump’s claim about “revolutionary war airports” & other historical flubs. “There’s your city upon a hill, there’s your world leader—and Martians have been defeated.” pic.twitter.com/wiw2OcFCLN
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) July 5, 2019
Undeterred, Trump said today that he plans to hold a similar extravaganza next year.
“It was a wonderful day for all Americans, and based on its tremendous success, we’re just making the decision — and I think I can say, we’ve made the decision — to do it again next year, and maybe, we can say, for the foreseeable future,” Trump said.
Critics had argued that the cost of the taxpayer-funded event was excessive and that Trump was injecting politics into a typically nonpartisan day of celebration.
The combined hourly cost of the flyovers, for instance, was at least $560,000 per hour, according to Defense Department figures and The Washington Post’s previous reporting.