In Florida, the government of the city of Orlando was forced to issue an apology after posting a 4th of July message that was critical of the United States, and saying that the city “can’t blame” people for not wanting to celebrate Independence Day.
Breitbart reports that, in the message posted on July 1st, the city declared that “a lot of people probably don’t want to celebrate our nation right now, and we can’t blame them. When there is so much division, hate and unrest, why on earth would you want to have a party celebrating any of it?”
“But in all seriousness, you know in your heart, Fourth of July fireworks are amazing, especially when you are standing in 90° heat, 100% humidity, next to 100,000 of your closest friends,” the statement continued. “In that moment, something takes over and we all become united in an inexplicable bond. Yes, America is in strife right now, but you know what… we already bought the fireworks.”
The following day, the city posted a follow-up message apologizing for the previous day’s remarks.
“The City of Orlando sincerely regrets the negative impact our words have had on some in our community,” said the statement. “We understand these words offended some of our residents, which was not our intent. We value the freedoms we have in this country and are thankful to the men and women who have fought and continue to fight for those. We take pride in celebrating the 4th of July to express our gratitude to those men and women and honor the country we live in.”
In response to the original statement, the Florida GOP made its own remarks criticizing the city, declaring that “it is an affront to the brave men and women who sacrificed it all to protect the freedoms and individual liberty we enjoy today.”
“We live in the greatest nation in the world and it’s a shame some of Orlando’s leaders don’t understand that,” the state party continued.