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Michael Moore Calls Trump’s Boys Scout Speech ‘Child Abuse On A Mass Scale’

"He paused for them to cheer, and they did."
U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he delivers remarks at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree in Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve, W.Va. on July 24, 2017.
Carlos Barria / Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he delivers remarks at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree in Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve, W.Va. on July 24, 2017.

Filmmaker Michael Moore was quick to liken Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, calling the U.S. president's Monday speech to nearly 40,000 Boy Scouts "his own 'Triumph of the Will.'"

Trump walked onto the stage at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree in Glen Jean, W.Va. to a chorus of "USA! USA! USA" chants. The Academy Award-winning filmmaker decried the president's decision to deliver a politically charged speech to an apolitical organization.

"He paused for them to cheer, and they did," Moore wrote in a Facebook post. "Child abuse on a mass scale."

"Who the hell wants to speak about politics when I'm in front of the Boy Scouts?" Trump asked the crowd on Monday before proceeding to talk about politics.

He made repeated references to Washington as a swamp and updated the crowd on his efforts on health care, repeating how focused he is on "killing this horrible thing called Obamacare."

In between praising the Boy Scouts organization, the president also continued to take partisan shots at former campaign rival Hillary Clinton.

Moore has been a longtime vocal critic against Trump.

Months before Trump was won the election last year, Moore laid out his prediction why a "wretched, ignorant, dangerous part-time clown and full time sociopath" would become the next president of the United States.

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It's customary for the president to address the National Jamboree. But the overarching campaign tone of Trump's speech — amid backlash from former Boy Scouts — forced the organization to speak out.

The Boy Scouts of America fell short of condemning the National Jamboree-turned-political rally, saying in a statement it is "wholly non-partisan and does not promote any one position, product, service, political candidate or philosophy."

Scouts Canada was forced to do its own damage control after some Canadian parents took to Twitter to renounce Trump's blatant politicking before a crowd of boys and young men.

Twitter

"I signed my son up for Beavers today. I wouldn't have if I'd seen this. This is shameful," wrote Mary Beth Taylor.

Scouts Canada spokesman John Petitti told HuffPost Canada that while the two organizations are both members of the World Organization of Scouting Movement, "we are separate organizations that are completely independent of one another."

As an example, Petitti pointed out how Scouts Canada is co-ed whereas the Boy Scouts of America is not.

The Canadian organization said it isn't too fazed over the backlash they've received over the president's speech.

"Any member of our organization old enough to have a Twitter account would be well aware of the differences between Scouts Canada and BSA and our collaborative but independent relationship," Petitti said.

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