Virginia: President Donald Trump had a significant moment of quiet during his speech at the Navy’s 250th anniversary celebration at Naval Station Norfolk on Sunday, September 5th. This happened after he seemed to try to get the military crowd to boo former President Barack Obama.
Trump was talking about how much he liked his old White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, who he called “a man everybody loves.” Jackson was the doctor for both Obama and George W. Bush when they were at the White House. Trump called the 44th president by his full name, “Barack Hussein Obama,” as he was talking about Jackson’s past patients. Then he asked the crowd, “Have you heard of him?”
In the footage of the address, Trump stops and looks eagerly at the enormous crowd of sailors and military people, as if he is waiting for a reaction, either cheers or boos, like the kind of reception he usually gets at political rallies. But the crowd stayed utterly quiet. Trump soon got over the awkward pause and went on with his speech.
People online praise the military’s “principled” restraint.
The video went swiftly online, and many people reacted to it. People on the internet mostly thought that the crowd’s quiet was not a sign of passive submission, but rather a disciplined and principled refusal to become involved in political theater.
One person said that the event was a good sign: “In the past, these Navy Seamen would have booed on cue…” It’s good that they didn’t bite the bait. Maybe the military brass’s discipline reminded them that they don’t need to be sidekicks to his outdated act.
Another commenter put it well when they said that the stillness was a “quiet rebuke,” saying, “The silence wasn’t passive; it was principled.” Service members refused to be used as political props at a place where duty, discipline, and constitutional neutrality ruled. Their restraint is a muted reprimand, a reminder that the military is not a political rally.
Other commenters pointed out how hard it was for the service members, saying things like, “Even if they agreed with him, it’s still their job to keep a poker face,” and “Not the flex he thought it would be.”
The occasion was already surrounded by controversy because the President was about an hour late for his scheduled speech, which generated a lot of criticism online for being disrespectful to the military audience.
Trump had written on Truth Social before leaving the White House for the base, saying, “The United States has the best military in the world by far.” This will be a display of naval skill and power. Have fun watching! “President DJT.”