Trump Will Force 1,000 Cadets Back for Graduation

[RandySF]

WASHINGTON — For President Trump, who adores the pomp and precision of military ceremonies, this was the year he would finally get one of the special perks of being president — delivering the commencement address at West Point, the only service academy where he has not spoken.

But the graduation was postponed because of the coronavirus, the cadets were sent home and officials at the school were not sure when it would be held or even whether it was a good idea to hold it.

The Naval Academy, for its part, decided it was too risky to recall its nearly 1,000 graduating midshipmen to Annapolis, Md., for a commencement. Those graduates will have a virtual event. But the Air Force Academy, in contrast to the other schools, sent home its underclassmen, locked down its seniors on campus, moved up graduation, mandated social distancing — and went ahead with plans for Vice President Mike Pence to be its speaker.

And so last Friday, the day before Mr. Pence was to speak at the Air Force ceremony in Colorado, Mr. Trump, never one to be upstaged, abruptly announced that he would, in fact, be speaking at West Point.

That was news to everyone, including officials at West Point, according to three people involved with or briefed on the event. The academy had been looking at the option of a delayed presidential commencement in June, but had yet to complete any plans. With Mr. Trump’s pre-emptive statement, they are now summoning 1,000 cadets scattered across the country to return to campus in New York, the state that is the center of the outbreak.





https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-west-point.html

[SoonerPride]

1. Seems like a great idea to force lots of people to get infected.

[tanyev]

2. NO! Let him speak to an empty stadium if he's so desperate to go.

[Backseat Driver]

3. WTF! n/t

[underpants]

4. I remember him saying that. Clearly upstaging Pence

at this point I should at least consider that he just made it up.

[Totally Tunsie]

5. Ridiculous to think of endangering the lives of 1,000 cadets plus

their families, plus all the supporting personnel needed to stage a graduation service, just to pander to the ego of a madman. The moron-in-chief just can't stand to be outdone, even by Pencie.

[cloudbase]

6. ". . .the only service academy where he has not spoken."

I'm pretty sure he hasn't been to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

[stillcool]

7. sitting ducks..in so many ways

what a country, what a clown.

[LisaM]

8. Yet the military will still vote GOP.

It never ceases to amaze me.

[OAITW r.2.0]

9. Maybe a Putin suggestion?

All roads on Trump's behavior and decision making lead there.

[localroger]

10. It's like a rally where everyone has to pretend to like him

And he can force them to come. He's gotta be jonesing for some rally love in the worst way.

[pbmus]

11. The longer he is in office, the more people will die..

Link to tweet

[doc03]

12. Well after all he had to avoid STD during

the Vietnam War.

[no_hypocrisy]

13. He's going to kill future military officers.

You can't replace them.

[DURHAM D]

14. I assume that is Trump's deepest desire. nt

[maxrandb]

15. Captain Crozier should give the commencement address n/t

[Tanuki]

16. How does he expect the cadets, now scattered across the country,

to get back there? Those who do not live within driving distance will have to take the additional risk of flying there and back, all to satisfy 45's bottomless narcissistic thirst.

[0rganism]

17. seems like the seed of a really good idea about wars in general...

"the cadets were sent home and officials at the school were not sure when it would be held or even whether it was a good idea to hold it"
next time, instead of bombing someone and starting a war, let's do this instead

[struggle4progress]

18. Putin says: "Gather them from across the country and crowd them together"