Trumping the 250th

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"He's too busy." 

That's how Gov. Maura Healey responded earlier this month when asked whether President Donald Trump had been invited to 250th anniversary celebrations in Massachusetts.

With Trump's Great American State Fair set to kick off in Washington at the end of June, Healey used the question on GBH's "Boston Public Radio" as a jumping-off point for a broader critique of the fair and the Freedom 250 initiative behind it. 

"He's too busy with his Great American State Fair down there that everybody's bailing on," Healey said, calling the national exposition "ridiculous." Massachusetts is one of eight states that declined to participate in the fair which runs from June 25 to July 10.

The governor didn't directly answer the invitation question during the radio interview. When asked about it Monday, her office confirmed that all living presidents were invited to Lexington and Concord's 250th anniversary events last year. The "shot heard 'round the world" that started the Revolution was in 1775, so Massachusetts kicked off the semiquincentennial festivities last April that are culminating in a nation-wide celebration this summer for the 250th of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

As for 250th events in Massachusetts this year, invitations are being handled by the organizations hosting them, the governor's office said.

State officials have worked closely with American 250, the bipartisan national organization coordinating commemorations around the country. But Healey argued on the radio that taxpayers are footing the bill for projects tied to Trump's vision for the country's anniversary put up by his own public-private Freedom 250 initiative. 

"Who's paying for this, guys? You're paying for it. You are paying for it," she said. "You're paying for the Triumphal Arch. You're paying for the ballroom ... You're paying for that MMA thing outside the White House. 

"We're paying for this at a time he is taking away from us our healthcare, our food benefits, our veterans benefits, and so much more, and driving this economy off a cliff," Healey continued. "So, I get really hot about it."

Sam Drysdale is a reporter for the State House News Service. Reach her at [email protected].

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