Twitter is having a blast with President Donald Trump’s 4th of July speech that included a mention of how the Blue Coats “took over the airports” during the Revolutionary War.
"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 during the “Salute to America” event at the National Mall for the Fourth of July.
“Our Army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rocket’s red glare it had nothing but victory,” he said. “And when dawn came, their star-spangled banner waved defiant.”
The rockets’ red glare over Fort McHenry, the Washington Post noted, came during the War of 1812, prompting Francis Scott Key to author the “The Star-Spangled Banner."
The blunder prompted #RevolutionaryWarAirports and #TrumpSpeechFail to trend on Twitter as users pointed out the Wright Brothers’ first successful flight was in 1903.
The hashtag #RevolutionaryWarAirportStories is filled with tweeted dispatches about mythical battles at airports involving the Continental Army.
During the “Salute to America” event, Trump was joined by military leaders, including Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford. The event also featured aircraft from the Navy, Marines, Air Force, Army, and Coast Guard over the Lincoln Memorial.
Trump was first inspired to hold a military parade in Washington after he attended the 2017 Bastille Day celebration in France with French President Emmanuel Macron, where troops and military tanks were highlighted in a parade.
