Secretary of Defense Mattis (#SecDef) on Military Parade: “We’ve been putting together some options. We’ll send them up to the White House for a decision.” https://t.co/lJLlTVe65X pic.twitter.com/zgx5iZsizq
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 7, 2018
President Trump took another page out of the authoritarian playbook recently when he demanded that the Pentagon hold a military parade for him, which even the Trump-friendly faces at Fox & Friends decried as “a waste of money.” However, it seems that the Pentagon is moving forward with the idea, a development that will arrive much to the chagrin of Whoopi Goldberg.
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis appeared at the White House press briefing to announce that the Pentagon was putting together a few different parade options for the White House to consider. Mattis also dodged questions during the briefing about the cost of such a parade (in terms of “time, energy, financial resources”) by asserting it was actually respectful of the President to ask for parade “options” when there are ongoing concerns about the defense budget:
“I think what my responsibility is to make certain I lay out the strategy and make the argument for the oversight of Congress to make the determination of fully funding us. As far as the parade goes again, the president’s respect, his fondness for the military, I think is reflected in him asking for these options.”
Earlier Wednesday, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) also called the idea of a military parade “a fantastic waste of money to amuse the president.”