Russian state TV hosts mocked Trump's July 4 event as 'low energy'

Jushua Roberts/REUTERS

Spectators stand next to a Bradley Fighting Vehicle at the "Salute to America" event at the Lincoln Memorial during Independence Day celebrations in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 4, 2019.

• Russian state TV host Olga undefined mocked the military vehicles in President Donald Trump's "A Salute to America" display, saying, "There are no cannons, and their optics have been glued on with adhesive tape."
• The hosts also called the display "weak" and "low energy."
• President Donald Trump's July 4 festivities featured military flyovers, Bradley fighting vehicles, and M1A2 tanks.
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Russian state media mocked President Donald Trump's "Salute to America" July 4th event, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The hosts of Rossiya 1's "60 Minutes" program, Yevgeny Popov and Olga Skabeyeva, both scoffed at the footage of tanks rolling into Washington, DC ahead of Trump's military extravaganza.

"The greatest parade of all times is going to be held today in Washington, that is what our Donald Trump has said. The American president announced he would show us the newest tanks," Popov said. 

Popov told the audience that, "these are Abrams and Sherman tanks, used during World War II and withdrawn from service in 1957." Trump had previously said both these retired tanks would be in the parade, but more modern equipment - Bradley fighting vehicles and M1A2 tanks - actually featured in the spectacle.

Skabeyeva told the audience, "the paint on these vehicles is peeling off. There are no cannons, and their optics have been glued on with adhesive tape."

Skabayeva also tweeted footage of a military vehicle being transported by truck in Washington, with the caption, "Putin's America."

According to Julia Davis, a writer who studies Russian disinformation tactics, Russian state news also criticized Trump's display as being "low energy" and "weak," with "rusty tanks." 

"The hosts LOL at Trump's claim about 'revolutionary war airports' & other historical flubs. 'There's your city upon a hill, there's your world leader-and Martians have been defeated,'" Davis tweeted.

As the Washington Post points out, displays of military might are much more common in Russia than they are in the US and are an opportunity to show off advances in military technology. Rossiya 1 host Skabayeva scoffed that the condition of US military machinery is less important to Trump than "that the parade takes place with much fanfare."

The demonstration has had its fair share of critics stateside in the lead-up to the July 4 celebrations. Trump visited France in 2017 and was wowed by their Bastille Day festivities, expressing his desire for a parade of his own. But a November 2018 parade was scrapped because of its exorbitant cost. The cost of  Thursday's festivities are as yet unknown, but the Pentagon will be footing the bill for the military displays, which featured all five branches of the military.