CNN Flags President Who Died After Sweltering July 4th Speech — On Eve of Trump’s Freedom 250 Address

Just a day before President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 address in Washington, DC, CNN anchor Abby Phillip and historian Tim Naftali brought up the tragic end of a president who delivered a sweltering July 4th speech and died days later.

Trump is set to deliver a speech Saturday night at the Freedom 250 “Salute to America Celebration” on the National Mall amid blazing heat that caused the cancellation of several other events.

On Friday’s edition of CNN’s The Lead, Phillip and Naftali noted the heat, and talked about the fate of former President Zachary Taylor, who “got very sick after a very hot July the 4th, and a few days later was dead”:

PHILLIP: Speaking of hot July 4th celebrations, President Zachary Taylor knew about that all too well. In 1850, he attended festivities at the newly dedicated grounds where the Washington Monument would be erected, and it was sweltering that day. He reportedly ate cherries and iced milk, and then he ended up dying five days later.

That’s not exactly the analogy that we want on this day, but it is a moment in our history, is it not?

NAFTALI: Abby, it’s a reminder that you should be careful how you hydrate tomorrow. By the way, people disagree over exactly what killed Zachary Taylor. We know that he didn’t die of poisoning, which was one of the theories, but he may have died of cholera. In any case, he got very sick after a very hot July the 4th, and a few days later was dead. So, be careful tomorrow.

PHILLIP: Yes, I mean, that’s a very real message for so many people. I’m chuckling only because, you know, we want to keep things on a positive note, but we also want people to be safe. So, stay cool, stay hydrated.

Tim Naftali, thank you very much for that history lesson. We appreciate it.

NAFTALI: Happy 4th. Thank you.

Watch above via CNN’s The Lead.

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