As you may have noticed, a bizarre video from a Donald Trump campaign rally held earlier this week is going viral. The video shows the “USA Freedom Kids,” a trio of girls of different ages dressed in red, white and blue costumes singing a Trump-praising song called “When Freedom Calls” while alternately shimmying and saluting.
While watching this video, I got a bizarre sense of deja-vu….haven’t I seen a more-awesome, less-jingoistic version of this performance before?
A moment of looking back into my childhood/Google Images, and I had it: the USA Freedom Kids are dressed almost exactly like Molly, the American Girl doll whose tap-dancing skillz caused the end of WWII and brought her dad home from war (or something like that).
A quick recap on Molly’s story, if you missed out on the American Girl phenomenon or Molly’s moment in it (she was archived in 2013): Molly McIntire is a 10-year-old American girl during WWII. Her dad is away fighting overseas, leaving Molly to deal with problems on the homefront like eating gross Victory Garden-grown turnips, dealing with her annoying brothers, and becoming besties with an English refugee. In the final book in her series, Changes For Molly, Molly triumphs over her impossible-to-curl-hair and a sudden illness to perform the part of Miss Victory in a tap-dancing performance, and immediately afterwards discovers that her dad has returned home. Awww!!!
Her tap-dancing performance looks A LOT like those USA Freedom Kids’ song-and-dance routine. Is this their inspiration?
Just watch this scene from Molly’s made-for-TV movie (start at 4:50). (BTW, if you watch the whole movie, Molly Ringwald plays Molly’s mom!)
Now, if only the USA Freedom Kids — who are pretty cute, let’s remember that they’re innocent kids who’ve been given lyrics to sing by their dad — were singing a song like “You’re A Grand Old Flag” (sample lyric: “Forever in peace may you wave”) rather than the confusing, horrifying “Freedom Calls” (sample lyric: “President Donald Trump knows how to make America great / Deal from strength or get crushed every time”).
Trump and his campaign could take a page from Molly’s book: American Girl materials describe her as “lively,” “loveable,” “fun” and “cheerful” — none of which even vaguely apply to Trump — and her version of patriotism includes welcoming displaced WWII refugees into her home. We’d vote for fictional ten-year-old Molly over real-life billionaire racist Donald Trump any day. Molly for Miss Victory, and Molly for President!
Images via YouTube, American Girl
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