Boy Scouts extend 'sincere apologies' for the 'political rhetoric' Trump inserted into his jamboree speech
"I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree," wrote Mike Surbaugh, the Chief Scout Executive for the Boy Scouts. "That was never our intent."
On July 24, Trump spoke at a Boy Scouts Jamboree in West Virginia. Even though he said that no one wants to "speak about politics," he went on to fire jabs at former President Barack Obama, political correctness, and his former opponent Hillary Clinton to applause and chants of "U-S-A!"
"What we did, in all fairness, is an unbelievable tribute to you and all of the other millions and millions of people that came out and voted for 'Make America Great Again,'" Trump said.
After parents complained by calling the speech campaign-like and inappropriate, the Boy Scouts moved to distance the organization from the speech by calling itself "wholly nonpartisan" and saying that it "does not promote any one position, product, service, political candidate, or philosophy."
On Thursday, the Boy Scouts released an official apology, saying that "politics were inserted" into the jamboree.
"In a time when differences seem to separate our country, we hope the true spirit of Scouting will empower our next generation of leaders to bring people together to do good in the world," Surbaugh wrote.