D.C. state fair opens with Trump rally, partisanship accusations : NPR
The Great American State Fair, pictured on opening day, brings a Ferris wheel and state-themed pavilions to the National Mall through July 10.
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WASHINGTON — The “Great American State Fair” — which has deposited a ferris wheel, rodeo horses and a replica of Trump’s proposed arch on the National Mall — bills itself as an event for all Americans.
But not everyone feels included.
The fair kicked off with a presidential rally that struck many observers as overtly political. The 16-day event is run by Freedom 250, a White House-backed organization that has been accused of bypassing an existing bipartisan group formed years ago for the same purpose. And not all states are participating, which drew mixed reactions from attendees on opening day.
“I feel like this is kind of more of a reflection of how divided we are,” said Josh White, a high school history teacher visiting from Vermont.
Rachel Reisner, a spokesperson for Freedom 250, said the event has “something for everyone, whether you’re 8 or 85.”
“Anyone who wants to say celebrating America and [the] 250th anniversary is partisan should probably think again,” she told NPR from the fairgrounds. “We are here to celebrate the freedoms, liberties and everything that has made America the greatest nation in the world for so long.”
The celebration spans 10 blocks of the National Mall, between the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol.
It has many of the hallmarks of a quintessential state fair, including cowboys, concessions, concerts and commemorative merchandise. Many visitors NPR spoke with had positive feedback and no political concerns.
An equestrian performer rides a horse during a rodeo at the state fair on Thursday.
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“It’s just open to everybody, and everybody is extremely welcoming, and we just love it,” said Joyce Pontrello, visiting from Buffalo, N.Y., with her husband and their small dog, who was wearing a large red-white-and-blue bow.
Khai Nguyen and his wife are in town from Las Vegas for the entirety of the fair. They attended the Wednesday night campaign-style rally where Trump touted his accomplishments, took digs at his predecessor and declared “America is back.” Nguyen said the night was “definitely” partisan, but hoped people would focus on what he believes is the underlying patriotism.
“Whether you agree with the president or not, I thought the message centrally is that we’re all Americans, and it was unifying,” said Nguyen, who does agree with Trump.
But the expo also has some controversial elements. There’s a booth where parents can sign their children up for “Trump accounts,” a mobile museum that’s been accused of sanitizing history, two “MAHA Mondays” on the calendar and a heavy emphasis on Christian values, from the “faith and family” pavilion to the unnamed evangelical preacher over the loudspeaker at one point.
NPR asked Freedom 250 about whether there are plans to represent other religions in the fair’s programming, including on the date dedicated to “Faith, Values and Inspiration” but their response didn’t directly address the question.
“Faith has played a significant role in America’s founding and enduring strength, which is why Freedom 250 has incorporated faith-based programming into many of our signature events,” Reisner said in an email. “At the same time, Freedom 250 welcomes Americans of all faith traditions and beliefs as we come together to celebrate our shared history and the values that unite us.”
White, who is Jewish, said he approached the fair with an open mind but left feeling uneasy about the presentation of history, the uneven state participation and the religious overtones.
“I’m going to be honest, I don’t feel included in this celebration,” he said, though he added he would explore for one more hour in the hopes of something changing his opinion.
Headlines later emerged of some opening-day snafus, including a delayed opening and generator problems that intermittently halted the Ferris wheel and melted some of the ice cream supply.
Virginia resident Jessica Nguyen, who posts online about D.C.-area events, said she knew from social media comments that the fair was controversial before it opened, but opted to stay positive.
“These events are happening … whether we like it or not,” she said moments after disembarking the Ferris wheel with a friend. “I’m just trying to make the most of it.”
All states are represented, at least in theory
Vermont and Rhode Island were among the states that declined to participate, resulting in relatively sparse booths.
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Rows of classical pavilions line the lush green lawn of the Mall. Each is marked with a colorful pennant advertising a U.S. state or territory, government agencies and “food” and “merch.”
This is the centerpiece of the fair: the booths where each state gets to showcase its industries, traditions and hometown heroes.
Visitors can salsa dance in Puerto Rico, milk a mechanical cow in Michigan, walk through an orange-scented citrus grove in Florida, practice their lasso skills in Wyoming, pick up Mardi Gras beads in Louisiana, send a postcard from West Virginia and peruse a Waffle House menu in Georgia. Many have prizes, billboards and screens playing panoramic videos on loop.
But some booths feature only the requisite poster board — with their name and some illustrated state symbols — and one or two empty chairs (one of the few available seats for weary fairgoers). At least 10 state governments, concentrated in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest, declined to send staff or spend funds on the fair.
Most of the states that opted out are led by Democrats. But all cited financial considerations, saying they’d have to spend at least $100,000 (and in some cases up to half a million dollars) of their own money and preferred to prioritize celebrations at home.
Some had more overtly political critiques, like Mass. Gov. Maura Healey, who called it a “ridiculous” use of taxpayer money. Donna Chobat, a retired teacher from Massachusetts, strongly disagreed.
“I didn’t want an empty space where our state booth should be,” she said.
So Chobat got permission from Freedom 250, and pamphlets from local maple syrup producers, and drove to D.C. to run the pavilion herself, at least to start the fair. She said it cost her “three tanks of gas” plus hotel fare.
Some states that declined to participate, like Vermont, have completely bare booths. Others, like North Carolina and Illinois, are being represented by companies or organizations from their state instead.
Kevin Carpenter, who is visiting from Mississippi — his wife is helping staff their state’s booth — had visited most of the pavilions and said he didn’t mind that some were empty. He called even their bare-minumum signs “self-explanatory.”
“They all have so much information … [every] state has got something different to offer,” he said. “And it just makes me want to travel more.”
At least one governor was in attendance on opening day: Republican Mike DeWine of Ohio.
DeWine said he hadn’t ventured far beyond the Ohio booth other than to scout out rival Michigan (“I actually got some Raisin Bran from them”). He enjoyed shaking hands with visitors and watching them point out, on a larger-than-life map, the parts of Ohio they had a personal connection to.
“Nobody’s talking politics,” DeWine said. “They’re talking about their state and some of the cool things they have in their state … But look, every governor has to make their own choice.”
The fair also features a replica of the controversial triumphal arch Trump wants to build directly across from the National Mall in Virginia.
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Questions linger about the framing and financing of 250th celebrations
White, the history teacher, said he understands the desire for each state to put its best face forward. But, for the most part, those retellings struck him as “pretty whitewashed.”
White said he would have liked to see “more acknowledgement of some of the uncomfortable truths of the past.”
In response to NPR’s request for comment on the religious and historical framing concerns, Reisner, the Freedom 250 spokesperson, wrote: “No single exhibit can tell every part of America’s story, but together they highlight the extraordinary breadth of our shared history, including both the challenges we have overcome and the achievements that continue to define our nation.”
Some Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Jared Huffman of Calif., have also accused Freedom 250 of whitewashing history in its anniversary celebrations, including glossing over topics like slavery and the genocide of Native Americans.
Huffman pointed to Trump’s directive that national park sites remove signs that cast America in a “negative light.” He also cited the six “Freedom Trucks” touring the country with mobile museums produced by conservative media organization PragerU and Hillsdale College, a conservative, Christian institution.
One of those trucks is parked on the National Mall for the fair. It features an AI-generated George Washington, written and digital displays about the country’s founding, a video message from Trump and a “wall of American Heroes” ranging from Harriet Tubman to Elvis Presley to Billy Graham.
A video message from President Trump plays inside a “Freedom Truck” parked on the National Mall.
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“It tells a very kind of 1950s, white, Christian version of U.S. history that I thought we had moved on from,” said Alan Zibel. He’s a researcher for Public Citizen, a progressive consumer advocacy nonprofit that’s been scrutinizing the federal contracts and corporate sponsorships of 250th celebrations.
Freedom 250 describes itself as “the national, non-partisan organization leading the celebration of our Nation’s 250th birthday.” It is behind many of the high-profile D.C. celebrations of the country’s birthday, from the state fair to the White House UFC fight to the Patriot Games.
Freedom 250 was created through an executive order last year, in what critics see as Trump’s attempt to bypass a decade-old nonpartisan commission that Congress had created for that same purpose. That group, America 250, is planning a July 4th concert in Los Angeles as well as community-level events across the country, with a smaller reach and less access to federal funding than the White House-backed group.
Last month, multiple musicians withdrew from the fair’s kickoff because of concerns about its political affiliation, prompting Freedom 250 to rebrand it as a rally.
Zibel says the celebrations may have felt more inclusive with a different organization in charge.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with celebrating our 250th anniversary,” he said. “The important thing is the manner in which it’s being done, and whose stories are being told … and who is doing the telling of the story.”
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