This is the kind of thing that endears President Trump to our armed forces.
After delivering the commencement speech to the graduating class at the Air Force Academy on Thursday, the President announced that he was sticking around to shake the hand of every cadet – well over 900 of them.
“Most of all, to the nearly 1,000 cadets — who I have agreed to shake every single hand,” the Commander-in-Chief said to raucous applause.
Trump explained that officials at the ceremony gave him a choice of how many graduates he could have greeted – including zero.
“They gave me a choice. They said, ‘Sir, you don’t have to shake any hands.’ Some people do that,” he explained. “Those are the smart ones. They’re out of here.”
“You can shake one hand to the one person, top of the class,” the President continued. “You could shake 10, 50, or 100, and you could also stay for 1,000.”
“And I’m staying for 1,000.”
Fox 10 Phoenix has video of every single handshake if you’d like to watch the entire 1 hour and 23 minutes …
Prior to leaving the White House and flying to the Academy in Colorado, the President told reporters that the ceremony is “very exciting for me” and the academy is an “amazing place.”
Better Than Hillary’s Speech
The President spent much of his speech praising the cadets and providing them motivational fodder for their future.
“To dominate the future, America must rule the skies,” Trump said as part of his speech. “And that is what your time at this great academy has been all about – preparing you to do whatever it takes to learn, to adapt and to win, win, win.”
“You’re gonna win so much, you’re gonna get tired of winning, but not really,” he added to thunderous applause. “Not really. We never get tired of winning. Do we? No?”
Trump added that the “sky is never ever the limit.”
Now contrast that effort with that of Hillary Clinton, who delivered a miserable commencement speech to graduates at Hunter College.
Hillary Clinton: “There may not be tanks in our streets but make no mistake we are witnessing an assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our democracy.” pic.twitter.com/DQYQriIN3P
— The Hill (@thehill) May 30, 2019
Those poor individuals had to endure Clinton complaining about her 2016 election loss, fantasizing about being “Madame President,” and comparing Trump supporters to Americans’ who supported Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
Obama Left Early
Trump not only stayed for the handshakes, but according to Fox 31 Denver, stayed to “view the customary hat-toss and Thunderbirds fly-by,” joking that “he was given the opportunity to leave early, but turned it down.”
During his address to the Academy in 2012, Barack Obama left early because he had to leave for a fundraiser.
Tech. Sgt. Raymond Hoy, a Social Media Manager with HQ/USAFA Public Affairs, explained then that it was common for presidents to leave prior to the air show.
“Presidents typically don’t stay for the Thunderbird air show,” he explained. “President Bush didn’t stay for the show during either of the graduations he attended. Some previous presidents didn’t even stay for the entire ceremony, leaving after their commencement speech.”
President Trump isn’t your typical president, and for that, these graduates will likely be forever grateful.
