Donald Trump’s highly politicized speech at the Boy Scouts of America’s National Jamboree on Monday drew intense criticism, but the organization itself came under ever more fire when it initially tried to remain “non-partisan.” In an official statement released the morning after the president’s remarks, the BSA described itself as “wholly non-partisan” and declared its lack of “[promoting] any one position, product, service, political candidate or philosophy.” After four days of continued complaints, however, Chief Scouting Officer Michael Surbaugh issued a formal apology on the BSA’s website.
“I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree. That was never our intent,” he wrote. “For years, people have called upon us to take a position on political issues, and we have steadfastly remained non-partisan and refused to comment on political matters. We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program.”
Surbaugh repeated the previous statement’s explanation that, as the BSA’s honorary president, the President of the United States is regularly invited to attend and speak at the National Jamboree. He also insisted on emphasizing the organization’s devotion to remaining non-partisan. “While we live in a challenging time in a country divided along political lines,” he wrote, “the focus of Scouting remains the same today as every day.”
Even so, Surbaugh’s apology said nothing of the BSA’s only recently allowing transgender children to become scouts. Nor did it mention BSA President Randall Stephenson’s other job as AT&T’s chairman and chief executive — and how that may effect his standing with Trump.
(Via TIME)