Donald Trump chose to put his fragile, maniacal ego on full display over the holiday weekend with a positively massive fireworks display meant to celebrate America's 250th birthday. However, it seems the ordeal only left countless D.C. residents stranded indoors as they waited for the acrid smoke to clear.
That massive fireworks show was originally scheduled for 9 pm. Still, it was ultimately rescheduled to take place after Trump's big speech, which didn't begin until after 11 pm due to an evacuation order following dangerously high temperatures that swept through Washington, D.C. this weekend, sending the city into a record-breaking 103-degree heatwave. As a result of all of the rescheduling, the fireworks display didn't wrap up until the wee hours of the morning on July 5th.
Visually speaking, the display was certainly spectacular, if not a bit overwhelming. Featuring something in the ballpark of a staggering 850,000 fireworks, launched from 20 different sites across the nation's Capital, lasting an entire 40 minutes, the pyrotechnics event was dubbed the "largest fireworks show in history" by the big man himself.
However, it seemed to leave D.C. residents worse for wear when it was all said and done, as the over-the-top display left the air thick with a blurry haze of acrid smoke that blanketed the D.C. skyline, obscured the big finale, and led to a "Code Red" warning about unsafe air quality for residents of the city.
The city issued a "Code Red Air Quality Alert" in the aftermath of the grandiose display, warning that "The general public may experience health issues" if they breathe in the thick smoke, and noting that individuals with asthma or other lung-related health conditions "may experience more serious health issues."
The Code Red Alert warned that air quality throughout D.C. was "unhealthy for seniors, children, and people with medical conditions."
Days ahead of the big event, multiple warnings were issued regarding the potential impact on D.C. residents' health as a direct result of what Donald Trump touted as the "greatest show of all on the National Mall." Internal National Park Service documents warned that air pollution could reach "very unhealthy" levels and urged the public to limit their exposure to the thick smoke haze and to expect symptoms of irritation.
Professor of medicine and population health at New York University, George Thurston, went so far as to advise D.C. residents to consider wearing N95 masks; a suggestion that the National Parks Service echoed.
Despite repeated warnings from experts, Donald Trump blatantly ignored the health and safety of D.C. residents. He urged them to "HAVE SOME FUN even if we are out late" on Saturday, vehemently insisting that the show must go on, no matter the conditions or risks.
During his late-night speech, the president, as usual, repeatedly boasted about his crowd size, claiming he drew a whopping 150,000 attendees despite severe, dangerously high temperatures, evacuation orders, extensive delays, and multiple warnings about air quality and overall attendee safety.
Much like any of his "big" events, it seemed that video evidence did not quite align with Trump's attendance claims, as footage showed countless empty seats while Trump spoke to his gathered crowd.
To make matters that much worse still, as "Code Red" warnings were being dispatched throughout the city, advising residents of the dangerous air quality that was expected to last at least 3-6 hours after the end of the display, many attendees were stuck in the thick haze as they struggled to make their way home at the end of the event, with thousands of bodies packed into L'Enfant Plaza Metro station -- serving as further proof that Donald Trump truly could not care less about the American people he swore to "serve" if he tried.
