America’s 250th birthday celebration is replacing history with toxic myth | Judith Levine

The Guardian UK Wednesday 10 June 2026, 11:00 UTC By Judith Levine 1 min read

Key Points

This year’s events will be a mélange of Trumpian egotism, Maga populism and Christian nationalismMusicians who dropped out of the Great American State Fair said they were tricked. “I HAVE INFORMED MY AGENTS THAT I WILL NOT BE PERFORMING AT THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT,” wrote the rapper Young MC on Facebook of the first major celebration of the US’s 250th birthday. “The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event.

This year’s events will be a mélange of Trumpian egotism, Maga populism and Christian nationalism

Musicians who dropped out of the Great American State Fair said they were tricked.

“I HAVE INFORMED MY AGENTS THAT I WILL NOT BE PERFORMING AT THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT,” wrote the rapper Young MC on Facebook of the first major celebration of the US’s 250th birthday. “The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event. And despite the claims by the organizers that the event is nonpartisan, SPIN magazine describes it as ‘Trump-backed.’” The country singer Martina McBride said that the organizers’ description of the event as nonpartisan “turned out to be misleading”.

America (LOCATION) Judith Levine (PERSON) Trumpian (ORG) Maga (ORG) Christian (ORG) the Great American State Fair (ORG) THE FREEDOM 250 EVENT (EVENT) Young MC (PERSON) Facebook (ORG) US (LOCATION) Martina McBride (PERSON)

Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

America’s 250th birthday celebration is replacing history with toxic myth | Judith Levine

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