After complaining beforehand that Trump was politicizing the military by hosting an alleged dictator-style military parade in the Nation’s capital, CNN was so desperate to keep finding things wrong with the Army’s 250th Anniversary Parade, that they then complained that Trump didn’t politicize the parade enough. And then there was their apparent suspicion of how the Army and Trump shared a birthday.

CNN Newsroom spent their evening by critiquing the celebration of 250 years of the Army, doing anything but showing respect and support for our troops. In an attempt to justify their distaste of the patriotic parade, contributor Kristen Holmes aired suspicion of how the birthdays happened to line up She explained that Trump was inspired by France’s Bastille Day parade, and that the White House says French President Emanuel Macron wasn’t called a dictator like he was. Holmes defended CNN’s smears by noting that Bastille Day doesn’t fall on Macron’s birthday: 

BORIS SANCHEZ: Kristen, the celebration notably falls on the President's 79th birthday. He said earlier that he anticipated getting some heat for that. How is the white house framing the two coinciding days?

KRISTEN HOLMES: I mean, just that, Boris. It is– it is coinciding. They have pushed back on me on every which way that this is a celebration because they have said that they understand how that this looks. I mean, I had one source telling me, ‘Hey, Macron was never called a dictator for having a parade.’ Well, of course, that parade in France was not on Macron's birthday, which is what we heard some of the pushback back from the critics of Donald Trump saying that he wanted this kind of big, spectacular parade. But, again, this still is the 250th birthday. But, again, this still is the 250th birthday. We know that there was a plan in place to celebrate the Army, whether it was this kind of spectacle. No, that is not what it was. But they say this was already happening anyway. Happens to fall on the President's 79th birthday.

This was an argument the left peddled for days: Trump simply is using the Army’s 250th as a cover-up to give himself a North Korean birthday bash. Undoubtedly, CNN hoped that Trump would make this parade about him, about his policies, and about MAGA. But that wasn’t the case. 

Trump only spoke for a mere eight minutes to commend the military as their Commander-in-Chief. The majority of the spectacle was on the Army, their weaponry, their aircraft, and most overwhelmingly, their history. There was no way the parade could be spun any way as “Trump” themed, as CNN also tried to baselessly claim. 

So CNN created a new spin that hilariously contradicted previous parade commentary: Trump wasn’t political enough. 

Special correspondent Jamie Gangel felt the need to point out that Trump should’ve spoken on the months old headline Signalgate, or the crisis in Ukraine, all spurred on by people she’s seen talk. “Someone also messaged, what about NATO because of his remarks about NATO…there are people who take issue with some of the things he said today,” she griped. 

Co-host Boris Sanchez then turned to retired U.S. Army Major General James “Spider” Marks, who shot down CNN’s narrative about Trump’s birthday. “Well, you know, you can't choose your birthday unless you're United States Army,” he stated. “So, let's give the President a break in terms of making this or even having the narrative about this, having something to do with him. He didn't choose his birthday.”

This was refreshingly sensical for the conspiracy theory riddled segment. Marks continued to say that he felt the parade was an incredible display of the might of our armed forces: “What I saw today was an incredible display and, I would say, a very humble display of what our Army, what our military, what our joint force brings to the table.”

The celebration of our Army should be apolitical– and it was. CNN was clearly upset that Trump didn’t match the authoritarian version of him they had been trying to sell to viewers, impassioned, spit-flying political speech and all. The left media doesn’t care about factual reporting, they care about selling an agenda, and Saturday’s parade coverage was a perfect example of that. 

The entire transcript is below. Click "expand" to read.

CNN Newsroom
June 14 2025
6:09 PM EST

BORIS SANCHEZ: Kristen, the celebration notably falls on the President's 79th birthday. He said earlier that he anticipated getting some heat for that. How is the White House framing the two coinciding days?

KRISTEN HOLMES: I mean, just that, Boris. It is– it is coinciding. They have pushed back on me on every which way that this is a celebration because they have said that they understand how that this looks. I mean, I had one source telling me, ‘Hey, Macron was never called a dictator for having a parade.’ Well, of course, that parade in France was not on Macron's birthday, which is what we heard some of the pushback back from the critics of Donald Trump saying that he wanted this kind of big, spectacular parade.

But, again, this still is the 250th birthday. We know that there was a plan in place to celebrate the Army, whether it was this kind of spectacle. No, that is not what it was. But they say this was already happening anyway. Happens to fall on the President's 79th birthday.

(...)

8:34 PM EST

JAMIE GANGEL: So, just to reiterate what Jeff said, I think this has to be the shortest speech that he has ever given. I mean, ten minutes, very disciplined stay– stayed on message. I've heard from a number of people when he said we're the hottest and we should celebrate, among the messages, someone pointed out the signal chat scandal, where they added a reporter to it. I mean, it has not been a smooth ride.

The fact that the president has said that, you know, on day one, everything would be okay. And he's facing the challenges of Ukraine now, what's going on in the Middle East. Someone also messaged, what about NATO because of his remarks about NATO, and also the fact that both in his first administration and now he's wanted to close bases and and pull back on things.

So I think that by and large, let's just reiterate this was about the U.S. Army today, but when you’re talking about the politics of it all, there are people who take issue with some of the things he said today. 

SANCHEZ: And Major General James “Spider” Marks, I wonder what you made of the president's remarks.

JAMES “SPIDER” MARKS (Army Maj. Gen., Ret.): Well, you know, you can't choose your birthday unless you're United States Army. So, let's give the President a break in terms of making this or even having the narrative about this, having something to do with him. He didn't choose his birthday. Can't choose your parents.

What I saw today was an incredible display and, I would say, a very humble display of what our Army, what our military, what our joint force brings to the table.

(...)