TRUMP’S JULY 4, 2026 SPEECH
Besides extolling the US as “the crowning achievement of human history” and saying that “we will always be on top” and that “we are the finest people on the planet”, Trump makes a list of his heroes: Davy Crockett, Wyatt Earp. Annie Oakley, Teddy Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill--they are all military heroes, gunslingers or Wild West entertainers. Some were also TV characters during Trump’s youth. There are no people of color on the list.
Trump also gives a plug for his Save America Act, which will require showing proof of citizenship for voting and forbid mail-in ballots unless the excuse be “illness, disability, military deployment or travel.” This bill is clearly designed to keep Democratic voters from the ballot box.
But we should give Trump credit for at least one true statement: “We just tamed the wilderness and conquered the frontier and built the empire.” And we destroyed Native Americans and other peoples and the environment to do it.
Conclusion: Trump’s speech was the usual mixture of exaggeration and falsehood.
Sources: The National Archives, 7/4/26