Rep. Gerry Connolly is calling for the head of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to denounce the politicized speech President Trump gave at the National Scout Jamboree, remarks the Virginia Democrat said “directly contradicted the spirit of Scouting and the tenets of Boy Scout Law.”
“I hope you and other national leaders of the Boy Scouts of America will respond to the President’s inappropriate remarks in a way that teaches Scouts the valuable lesson that all of us are created equal,” Connolly said in a letter on Thursday addressed to Randall Stephenson, the president of the BSA.
“That even the President of the United States, when he does something wrong — something that contradicts not only the principles of the Scout’s Oath but the spirit of his own oath of office — must answer for it.”
{mosads}Stephenson, who is also the CEO of AT&T, said he expected Trump to make controversial remarks at the event.
“If I suggested I was surprised by the president’s comments, I would be disingenuous,” Stephenson told The Associated Press during an interview released on Thursday.
While addressing an audience of around 35,000 people on Monday night, Trump spoke touched on politics, told a story about meeting a hero of his, and talked about his experiences of attending star-studded parties in New York City.
In a campaign-style speech, the president asked if former President Barack Obama had ever spoken to the group — a question that drew boos from the crowd.
Connolly said this year’s jamboree would be remembered for Trump’s “deeply troubling remarks” and the boos that came in response to references to Obama and Hillary Clinton.
“They booed, belying the Boy Scout Oath and negating your statement that the BSA is non-political and non-partisan,” wrote Connolly, who also mentioned his own history as a Boy Scout.