People are not pleased that President Trump decided to unload the details of his electoral victory and political battles onto America's youth during his speech Monday night at the quadrennial Boy Scout Jamboree. In Trump's freewheeling speech before 30,000 Boy Scouts, he jokingly threatened a Republican senator and his Health and Human Services secretary over the ObamaCare repeal; criticized Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama; and pondered whether the "fake media" would miscount his "record-setting" crowd.
The official Boy Scouts of America Facebook page quickly filled up with comments expressing outrage and concern. "I have no problem with a president speaking to scouts but what occurred at Jamboree today was reprehensible ... One of the main concerns that leaders have is trying to recruit more scouts from minority communities; that effort was dealt a serious blow today," a father of three Scouts wrote. "As a Cub Scout den leader and mom of 2 scouts, I am livid," another commenter posted. "You owe all of us, especially the scouts who were present, a sincere apology and assurance that you are not okay with what happened."
Several other commenters demanded an apology and questioned how Trump's speech jives with Boy Scout values. "As the mother of two soon-to-be Eagles and the wife of an Eagle Scout, this man goes against everything scouting stands for," a commenter said. An Eagle Scout and 1985 Jamboree attendee posted that he was "still awaiting a statement denouncing the president's speech and his attempt to turn the BSA into the Trump Youth."
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On Tuesday, Boy Scouts released a statement responding to the Trump backlash. "The Boy Scouts of America is wholly non-partisan and does not promote any one position, product, service, political candidate, or philosophy," the statement said. "The invitation for the sitting U.S. president to visit the National Jamboree is a long-standing tradition and is in no way an endorsement of any party or specific policies."
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