America turned 250 years old this week, and of course, the left's knight in socialist armor had something to say. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani marked the occasion with an insulting America 250 address he delivered from George Washington's actual desk. He used the moment to describe his own country as an "arena of supremacy, where only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all are created equal." He accused federal agents of "terrorizing our streets" and warned that the nation's founding ideals "are strong enough to endure any authoritarian regime, but only if we reach for them."
That he made such a speech at the desk of George Washington is such an insult. In his speech, he framed his own government as an authoritarian regime that needs to be endured. Make no mistake about it, that is not patriotism, no matter what flowery language he used.
President Donald Trump took a sharply different approach at Mount Rushmore on Friday. He spoke of American exceptionalism, something that the likes of Mamdani don’t believe in. He also warned of "a resurgence of the communist menace in our land" and didn't soften the message for anyone. "Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty," Trump said. "It is the greatest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or even 9/11." He drew the line without apology. "You can be loyal to Karl Marx, or you can be loyal to America," Trump said. "You can be a communist, or you can be a patriot. You cannot be both."
Another message you need to hear came from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who posted a video Saturday, narrated in his own voice, laying out exactly why this country is worth loving without qualification.
"250 years ago today, a small band of men gathered in Philadelphia and declared war on the most powerful empire on the earth," Rubio said. "They pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of their posterity."
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"Many of them would lose everything in the Revolution," Rubio continued. "Their homes burned, their land ransacked. Every last pound and shilling to their name poured into the patriot struggle. Some would die as paupers. But that was a price that each and every one of them was willing to pay."
He then tied the founders to something larger than themselves. "America has never been merely a proposition," Rubio said. "It has always been a real and living civilization. A unique and distinctive people unlike any other nation or people in the history of the world."
He continued, “America is an exceptional nation because Americans are an exceptional people. We are a people born on the edge of the known world. We are a frontier nation. From the hardy pioneers on the Oregon Trail to astronauts transcending the limits of Earth itself, America made the frontier a principle of national life. The men who built our country were heroes, among the greatest and most noble that the world has ever seen.”
Rubio closed his video with a line every American should be able to say without flinching. "This is the greatest nation on Earth," he said. "That has been true for 250 years. And with God's grace, it will be true for the next 250 as well."
That's the difference between a party that has stopped loving this country and an administration still willing to say so out loud. Mamdani wants Americans to see their nation as an arena where the powerful crush the weak. Rubio wants Americans to see it as the greatest experiment in self-government the world has ever produced.
Because it is.
For 250 years, America has been the greatest nation on Earth — and with God’s grace, it will be for 250 more.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 4, 2026
Happy Independence Day! pic.twitter.com/2X31hwk7Bx
This country has had 250 years to prove itself, and it's earned the right to be proud of what it has built. Never apologize for loving America, and never apologize for being proud of everything it has accomplished.
Editor's Note: It’s America’s 250th birthday! Help PJ Media celebrate the greatest nation in history by honoring its past, defending its present, and preserving its future with reporting you can trust.
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