Bill Maher says Freedom 250 concert exits make Dems look unpatriotic

[muriel_volestrangler]

50. America 250 v. Freedom 250 - bipartisan org v. Trump's plaything

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NUXh0O__dq8

America 250 was set up by Congress, 10 years ago. "Freedom 250" was set up by Trump, last year.

After many of the acts withdrew, rather than perpetuate the charade of neutrality, the humiliated president decided to replace them all with what he called “the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World”: Donald J. Trump.

That makes sense, because the fair’s sponsor is not America250, the nonpartisan body set up by Congress a decade ago to oversee the commemoration of the semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary, of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is an organization called Freedom 250, which is all but a wholly owned subsidiary of Maga
...
In 2016, Congress created the bipartisan US semiquincentennial commission to plan and coordinate activities, materials and financing of the 2026 commemoration. The commission’s first report, released at the end of 2019, outlined “a monumental initiative” that would engage all 350 million Americans and “recognize and include the ‘many’ Americans in our ‘one’ nation”.
...
Freedom 250 is thin on substance. But it is fat on income. With the interior department, in which it is nestled, having quietly instructed staff to use Freedom 250 as the “primary branding” on America 250 events, Freedom 250 has eclipsed the bipartisan semiquincentennial and siphoned off public funding and private donations.

According to Notus, as of April, America250 had received only $25m of its $100m appropriation; it’s tallied a $100m “funding shortfall” and a slimmer take in private donations than expected. Meanwhile, the park foundation “and by proxy Freedom 250” has been granted nearly $80m in federal funds for the semiquincentennial, 10 times its total going back to 2009. And this doesn’t count more than $100m the feds have squandered on Trump’s Washington “beautification”, $5m of which recently went to gilding four horse statues. Freedom 250 also offers incentives to donors that would be illegal from a government agency, such as a private reception hosted by Trump for $1m or a speaking slot at a Washington 4 July event for $2.5m.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/10/america-250-maga-christian-nationalism

"Freedom 250" was also responsible for that conservative religious event a week or two ago.

Bill Maher can fuck off.