Josh Hawley says Missouri 'would love to' host military parade desired by President Trump

JEFFERSON CITY — Attorney General Josh Hawley took to Twitter on Monday to offer Missouri as a destination for the military parade desired by President Donald Trump.

Last week, the Washington Post reported that Trump's vision of a "grand military parade" was "moving closer to reality." Officials in the White House and the Pentagon were under the impression that plans to realize Trump's long-held wish for a massive showcase of U.S. military strength were underway.

"We would love to host the military parade in Missouri," Hawley wrote on his campaign account in a message to Trump. "The politicians in D.C. are wrong. Our military and veterans deserve to be honored."

Hawley is a Republican who also is running for U.S. Senate. He aims to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat seeking her third term.

A spokeswoman for Hawley's campaign said his Twitter message was supposed to be "an open invite" for Trump to consider the positives of holding the parade in Missouri.

"Missouri's the geographic center of the U.S., and it would be really accessible to Americans," said spokeswoman Kelli Ford, who added that Hawley's campaign has not specifically spoken to the White House about holding the parade in Missouri.

The White House referred the News-Leader to a Pentagon spokesman who said details about the parade were still being finalized.

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The immediate response to Hawley's post on social media was generally negative. Many commenters questioned the cost of such a parade and who might foot the bill.

Jason Kander, the politically ambitious former Missouri secretary of state who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2016 and served in the U.S. Army, was among those critiquing Hawley's invitation.

"Josh, important work is being done at Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman AFB," Kander replied. "They don’t have time to put it aside for 2 weeks to practice drill and ceremony. You want someone to perform for you, buy a ticket to a play."

Asked about the reaction from the public and Kander, Ford said the parade could be funded by volunteer contributions and criticized "Democrats in Washington."

"Our nation has a lot of patriots and patriotic businesses who would gladly volunteer to help underwrite the cost of this parade to honor the men and women who have endured nearly two decades of constant deployments," Ford said in a statement. "It’s amazing that Democrats in Washington have become so partisan they can’t even say thank you to people who risk their lives to defend us."

Austin Petersen, who like Hawley is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge McCaskill, said in a statement that there were better ways to pay tribute to American veterans than a parade and accused Hawley of pandering.

"Skip the parade," Petersen said. "Instead, honor our military with better pay, VA care, and by keeping them out of harm's way unnecessarily. We're $20 trillion in debt — money spent on a parade would be better spent taking care of our service men and women, not just pandering to them."

At a tax reform speech in November, Trump said the first-term Missouri attorney general "is gonna be a great senator" and pledged to stump for Hawley when election time drew nearer.

"I promised Josh that when he gets it going, you have my word, I'm going to come here and campaign with you," Trump said then.

A Hawley spokesman previously told the News-Leader that Hawley would have voted for the GOP tax reform package that McCaskill opposed.

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The Washington Post's report of Trump's dream for a big military parade — inspired by a parade he attended in France — was confirmed by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and a spokesman for the Pentagon, USA TODAY previously reported.

"President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe," Sarah Sanders said in a statement last week. "He has asked the Department of Defense to explore a celebration at which all Americans can show their appreciation."

Trump's remarks had previously indicated that the big parade could be held in or near Washington, D.C., or New York City. And USA TODAY has noted that Trump in 2011 proposed a New York parade for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Kansas City Star recently reported that McCaskill, asked by a reporter, suggested a "giant, all-at-one-time Honor Flight" to honor veterans.

"I think that would be a much better idea than spending a gajillion dollars" on a parade, McCaskill told the Star. "... That's draining resources away from other things that the military needs to be doing."