Vice President JD Vance celebrated the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps on Saturday at a California event that drew some pushback from Gov. Gavin Newsom over a stay artillery demonstration.
The Camp Pendleton demonstration, which the Marines referred to as the biggest in a decade within the continental US, concerned fighter jets, helicopters, Navy vessels and stay hearth from a towed howitzer.
Newsom closed a piece of Interstate 5 in Southern California “due to extreme life safety risk and distraction to drivers, including sudden unexpected and loud explosions.”
“Firing live rounds over a busy highway isn’t just wrong — it’s dangerous,” Newsom, a Democrat who has frequently sparred with the Trump administration, mentioned in a press release.
Vance’s workplace disputed the declare that the demonstration was harmful. William Martin, Vance’s communications director, mentioned in a press release to NCS that the Marine Corps deemed the demonstration “an established and safe practice” and “part of routine training at Camp Pendleton.”
“If Gavin Newsom wants to oppose the training exercises that ensure our Armed Forces are the deadliest and most lethal fighting force in the world, then he can go right ahead,” Martin mentioned. “It would come as no surprise that he would stoop so low considering his pathetic track record of failure as governor.”
In remarks from Camp Pendleton, Vance — the primary Marine to function vice chairman — spoke of his time within the navy, saying, “I would not be here today, I would not be the vice president of the United States, I would not be the man I am today were it not for those four years that I served in the Marine Corps.”
Vance enlisted in the military after highschool, spending 4 years within the Marines and serving a tour in Iraq in 2005 as a fight correspondent.
In his remarks, he additionally centered on the Trump administration’s campaign against “woke” points of the navy. “It is not our diversity that makes us stronger,” Vance mentioned. “It is our common purpose, it is our common mission and it is the fact that every single person here bleeds Marine Corps green.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who took the rostrum earlier than Vance, made an identical argument.
“I look out at this crowd, I see a lot of different types of faces. The truth is your diversity is not your strength. Never has been,” Hegseth mentioned. “Your strength is in your unity of purpose.”
Since President Donald Trump returned to workplace in January, the Pentagon has cracked down on range initiatives and rolled again efforts made during the last decade making an attempt to eradicate poisonous tradition within the navy.
During Saturday’s celebration, Vance additionally delivered a message from the president, acknowledging the weekslong government shutdown however inserting blame on Democrats — significantly, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“I bring greetings today from our commander in chief, Donald J. Trump, and he wanted me to tell each and every single one of you that he’s proud of you, that he loves you and that despite the Schumer shutdown, he is going to do everything he can to make sure you get paid exactly as you deserve,” Vance mentioned.
As NCS has reported, as 1000’s of federal employees stay furloughed or are working with out pay, the Department of Defense is continuing to pay troops through the use of “unobligated research development testing and evaluation funds.”