On Monday night, pResident tRump broke a long-standing tradition by giving a blatantly political address to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). As the BSA noted in a tepid explanation (not really an apology), it has also been a long-standing tradition to invite the sitting president every year to speak to the national jamboree. Some presidents have taken them up on the offer and delivered non-political speeches that fell in line with the Boy Scout values. tRump is the first one to do otherwise.
When Barack Obama was president, he delivered a recorded message, rather than appear in person. That was a tacit protest against the BSA's policy regarding gay scouts and scout leaders (even though Obama himself was a boy scout, and
supported the program). That previous policy (which has since been rescinded) did not help bolster the BSA's image when compounded with the message and optics of tRump's "Hitler Youth" fiasco. There was plenty of outrage, and rightly so.
It wasn't even just the political aspects either.
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