![](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/authoring\/authoring-images\/2026\/07\/05\/USAT\/90810315007-20260704-vpc-trump-delivers-remarks-on-4th-of-july-thumb-00-00-00-00-still-003.jpg?crop=1919,1079,x0,y0\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"play\"](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/appservices\/universal-web\/universal\/icons\/icon-play-alt-white.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/div>\n<\/div>\nTrump marks America\u2019s 250th with Fourth of July speech<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump gave a late-night address at the National Mall to mark America\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Sammy Hagar<\/a> is defending his planned show at a Fourth of July event over its perceived political ties.<\/p>\n The Red Rocker was one of several acts set to perform at Freedom 250’s “Salute to America” event<\/a> on July 4 before most of the programming was canceled<\/a> over weather concerns. Other acts that were part of the original lineup included Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich and Lee Greenwood.<\/p>\n But before his performance was scrapped, Hagar gave fans a preview on social media<\/a>. After posting a video from rehearsal, the former Van Halen frontman was met with backlash from some fans over the event’s ties to President Donald Trump.<\/a><\/p>\n Freedom 250<\/a>, the group organizing the event, was formed under Trump’s direction and has been criticized by some public figures<\/a> over the affiliation with his administration.<\/p>\n In May, a slew of musicians<\/a> who were slated to perform at Freedom 250’s 16-day state fair<\/a> event backed out, with some citing politics.<\/p>\n However, the group has previously denied allegations of partisanship.<\/p>\n “Freedom 250 is a nonpartisan organization, full stop \u2013 and our track record of collaboration across red, blue, and purple states speaks for itself,” Rachel Reisner, a spokesperson for Freedom 250, previously told USA TODAY.<\/p>\n Here’s what Hagar had to say about the criticism.<\/p>\n After Hagar posted a video<\/a> of his rehearsal for the Independence Day event to Instagram on July 2, some fans in the comments blasted his planned performance.<\/p>\n “This is the most tone deaf thing you\u2019ve ever done,” one commenter said.<\/p>\n “Anyone who is associated with this fiasco is not someone that I can support. I am very very disappointed in the choice you made,” another fan wrote.<\/p>\n Hagar responded to his detractors in a comment on the post the following day, writing in part that he “sincerely can’t understand why anyone would have a problem with this.”<\/p>\n “This is not a political thing! This is the celebration of our country’s birthday no matter who the president is at this time,” he wrote.<\/p>\n Some agreed with him in the comments.<\/p>\n “The Celebration is not about party politics, It WAS always about Celebrating Our Independence Day!! Glad to see you’re involved,” one person said.<\/p>\n Lynyrd Skynyrd, which was also set to perform, similarly addressed its planned performance at the show after the cancelation.<\/p>\n “We are still disappointed that the weather had other plans for us last night,” the band captioned an Instagram post<\/a> with a series of photos and videos from rehearsals ahead of July 4.<\/p>\n After his performance was canceled, Hagar took to social media again to share a message he intended to deliver at the Freedom 250 event.<\/p>\n “I’m so sorry about the cancellation up to tonight’s\u00a0#fourthofjuly<\/a>\u00a0event in DC,” he wrote <\/a>on Instagram. “I was so excited to present this speech to the world at the beginning of the Van Halen song ‘right now.'”<\/p>\n Hagar shared a photo of a written speech that began, “Right now we are celebrating our country’s 250th birthday & right now would be a good time to reunite this country.”<\/p>\n “Come together right now. Stop the violence. Stop the hate,” the speech continued.<\/p>\n Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh<\/a> and Instagram @bymelinakhan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nSammy Hagar says Freedom 250 event involvement was ‘not a political thing’<\/h2>\n
Sammy Hagar planned speech about unity for canceled Freedom 250 performance<\/h2>\n