Daily Caller News Foundation

Daily Caller editorial director Vince Coglianese pressed Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky Wednesday over his criticism of a parade to celebrate the United States Army’s 250th birthday.

The parade, slated to take place Saturday, includes numerous current and historical United States Army vehicles and aircraft, including M1 Abrams main battle tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Stryker wheeled armored vehicles, M4 Sherman tanks, AH-64 Apache helicopters, UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and P-51 Mustangs, according to Task and Purpose. Coglianese, on “Vince,” questioned Paul about using the term “goose-stepping” to characterize the event.

“You re objecting to this military parade that is taking place on Saturday in Washington,” Coglianese said. “This is meant to honor the 250th anniversary of the Army and I saw Jennifer Griffin posted a statement from you yesterday where you said that you’ve never been a big fan of goose-stepping soldiers and big tanks and missiles rolling down the street.”

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“Now, Senator Paul, the American military definitely does not goose-step,” Coglianese continued.

The United States military has often focused on marching and formations for teaching discipline as opposed for its use in combat, often based on its experience in combat, We Are The Mighty reported. The goose-step also fell out of favor with Western militaries after World War II.

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“We’ve never had a parade like this,” Rand Paul claimed. “It’s going to cost $40 million, we’ve never had a parade where we roll our missiles and our tanks down the street because what we didn’t represent was military might.”

After Operation Desert Storm, 8,000 military personnel took part in a parade in Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Magazine reported. Military personnel and equipment also took part in the 1953 inauguration of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the 1961 inauguration of former President John F. Kennedy, the magazine reported.

Democrats have claimed that President Donald Trump is throwing the parade for his birthday, which happens to coincide with the anniversary of the United States Army’s founding and Flag Day, a federal holiday. “Trump is throwing himself a $30 million birthday parade just to stroke his own ego,” Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois told The Hill.

Ana Navarro, co-host of  “The View,” claimed without evidence that Trump was trying to distract Americans from criticism of the parade by calling up National Guard personnel to address the riots in Los Angeles that started after United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out raids.

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