D.C. Mayor on Trump’s 4th of July Speech: We Hope This Isn’t a ‘Show of Force to Our Own People’

Washington D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser said on Wednesday that she hopes President Donald Trump’s militarized Fourth of July speech doesn’t evolve into “a show of force” toward the American people.

Bowser and D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) gave a joint interview to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, and they began by talking about the costs and logistics of setting up Independence Day festivities around the capital. When the discussion arrived at the costs of bringing in military equipment and Trump’s instance that it won’t be so expensive, Bowser countered that “we don’t know what our total costs are yet,” referring to the inevitable expenses for the park service and security.

Norton got in to say that Trump has gone beyond politicizing the military, “now we’re going to militarize the entire [Fourth of July].”

“He has converted this into a campaign event for all purposes,” Norton said. “Imagine what the costs will be for a president to be on the mall. Leave aside the other security costs with people on the mall. Insert into that the president and dozens of other type level public officials, and you can see the costs to the federal government will be immense.”

Bowser re-entered the conversation soon afterwards, and she agreed that “this has been a nonpartisan fun family event where people come from all walks of life and all points of this region and the world to celebrate.”

“We hope that the president will stick to that and not turn it into [a rally], and we hope, too, that we never see the spectacle of our military force being on display as a show of force to our own people.”

Watch above, via MSNBC.