Liberal commentators panicked after President Donald Trump articulated the same view of America’s “Anglo-Saxon” heritage as that of the Founding Fathers during King Charles III’s visit this week.
During his speech on Tuesday, Trump rejected the premise that America was “merely an idea,” but instead argued it was a unique nation founded by English settlers and the Founding Fathers who led them.
“Long before Americans had a nation or a Constitution, we first had a culture, a character and a creed. Before we ever proclaimed our independence, Americans carried within us the rarest of gifts: Moral courage,” Trump said.
He went on to cite that American patriots’ blood was filled with “Anglo-Saxon courage” and that, “Their hearts beat with an English faith, and standing firm for what is right, good, and true.”
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“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin reacted to the speech by objecting to how “the president said things like, ‘You know, this country, we have Anglo-Saxon blood running through our veins,’” noting the presence of both Indigenous tribes and enslaved peoples. “He doesn’t understand history,” she concluded.
Jonathan Chait at The Atlantic condemned Trump’s speech for having “embraced the idea that the nation is an Anglo-Saxon one,” arguing his speech “walks up to the edge of [W]hite nationalism.”
“The analysis Trump endorsed is that America is defined not by its founding values but by its Anglo-Saxon cultural and genetic heritage. This idea has radical consequences, some of which have already manifested under the administration,” he wrote.
He went on to warn of a “national conservative faction,” of conservatism that “considers itself a heroic vanguard dedicated to rescuing American civilization from the Third World immigrant hordes who have transformed it beyond recognition.”
“The natcons have enjoyed almost untrammeled influence over the course of Trump’s second term, which has combined challenges to birthright citizenship and aggressive immigration enforcement with a campaign to entrench power and intimidate political opponents. In his speech yesterday, Trump made his affinity with their project more overt than ever,” he warned.
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Ahmed Baba, a columnist for The Independent, condemned the speech, warning: “The [W]hite nationalist undertones in this speech have been dramatically underreported. Trump says the colonists had British blood, the 1776 revolutionaries’ ‘veins ran with Anglo-Saxon courage,’ and criticized the notion that America is an idea. Echoed Vance’s blood and soil speech from last year.”
NBC4 host Joseph Olmo also knocked the speech as well, warning that usage of the term “Anglo-Saxon,” while it has some historic usage, “certain groups use it, ‘Anglo-Saxon,’ as a way to identify the type of America they want to live in, an America much less diverse than it is today.”
When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly replied to criticism of Trump’s speech by declaring, “These Trump-deranged Democrats need to touch grass. President Trump was proud to welcome King Charles and Queen Camilla to the United States and recognize the special, historic relationship between our two countries.”
Meanwhile, many conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic have praised the speech or shared similar sentiments. Use of the term Anglo-Saxon to address people of British heritage around the world or even in England itself has become a hot topic amid debates about immigration and demographic change.
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Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss posted on social media, “We in Britain desperately need to rediscover that Anglo-Saxon courage if we are to save our country. Thank you President Trump for reminding us who we are.”
A piece from NotTheBee, the news sister outlet to The Babylon Bee, replied to Trump’s remarks in the article, saying, “What a great day to be an American” and agreeing the U.S. “is not an economic zone, nor an experiment in unfettered diversity, equity, and inclusion. That does not mean one cannot become American, but it is a process that takes generations. It is not magically granted because your mom gave birth on U.S. soil.”
Political commentator Gunther Eagleman hailed Trump’s similar rhetoric in another speech that night, replying that, “PRESIDENT TRUMP just dropped a very true point at the State Dinner: Anglo-Saxon culture was one of the greatest gifts to the world and former colonies should be grateful for it. The English language, common law, individual rights, limited government, and the spirit of liberty that built America didn’t come from nowhere.”
During his speech on Tuesday, Trump also noted the signing of the Magna Carta, a medieval peace treaty that emerged amid the rebellion against King John in the First Barons’ War of 1215, where rebel barons demanded rights, liberties and checks on royal power. The Founding Fathers frequently cited the Magna Carta, the “Rights of Englishmen,” and specifically “Anglo-Saxon” ideals as their birthright, arguing it was King George, not they, who had betrayed such ideals.
