If there was one moment from Tuesday’s Republican National Convention that sent liberals over the edge, it was during one of President Trump’s appearances with Acting Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf when he oversaw a naturalization ceremony at the White House to highlight legal immigration to the United States.
Wolf gave the oath of allegiance to five individuals from Ghana, India, Sudan, Lebanon, and Bolivia as the president stood to the side and watched.
"You followed the rules, you obeyed the laws, you learned our history, embraced our values, and proved yourselves to be men and women of the highest integrity," Trump said. "You've earned the most prized, treasured, cherished, and priceless possession anywhere in the world. It's called American citizenship. There is no higher honor and no greater privilege. And it's an honor for me to be your president."
While conservatives described the ceremony as “brilliant” and “incredibly powerful,” the Left lost their collective minds.
This is un f’n believable. The most anti-immigrant President in history staging a naturalization ceremony in the WH, with military in uniform, FOR A POLITICAL CONVENTION. infuriating.
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) August 26, 2020
A pardon. A naturalization ceremony. A military honor guard. The marine band. A first lady's speech.
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) August 26, 2020
They are literally abusing every lever of executive power for political purposes tonight to promote Trump's #RNC2020.
Unprecedented blurring of the lines in modern politics.
A naturalization ceremony, a pardon, and a Secretary of State speech all at a political convention. Trump is putting the government to work for his reelection.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 26, 2020
This is an unprecedented abuse of the president's power. A pardon, and now a naturalization ceremony.
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) August 26, 2020
If Obama had done something like this, Republicans would have stormed the White House gates with torches.
I'm so thankful for @JoyAnnReid hitting the naturalization ceremony thing.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) August 26, 2020
I like to think that I cannot be surprised by the depravity of these people, but that ceremony got me. It was honestly one of the lowest thing I've even seen in American politics.
It's quite late, but I felt compelled to articulate the breadth of the cynicism in that naturalization ceremony that aired during the RNC. https://t.co/7bPsvuAMWa
— Philip Bump (@pbump) August 26, 2020
That naturalization ceremony might be the most cynical stunt I’ve ever seen from an American politician.
— Radley Balko (@radleybalko) August 26, 2020
And now a naturalization ceremony... this is disgraceful
— Nicholas J. Fuentes (@NickJFuentes) August 26, 2020
Dinesh D'Souza explained why they were freaking out over the ceremony.
Think how they are freaking out over this naturalization ceremony at CNN, MSNBC and news outlets around the country. This does NOT fit the narrative that Trump is a white nationalist who hates immigrants—especially nonwhite immigrants pic.twitter.com/dkqoP8GWbD
— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) August 26, 2020
As to criticism that the ceremony at the White House during the RNC violated the Hatch Act, Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Ballhaus tweeted a White House official's response.
WH official says the naturalization ceremony in the convention program tonight didn’t violate the Hatch Act b/c the WH "publicized the content of the event on a public website this afternoon and the campaign decided to use the publically available content for campaign purposes.”
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) August 26, 2020