If you’re a Republican and need a dose of feel-good wholesomeness before the inauguration on Monday, the Trumps and a tenor, who is slated to perform at the Monday ceremony, singing “God Bless America” should amply do the trick.
The viral video of the first couple, who returned to the Washington, D.C., area on Saturday for the president-elect’s second inauguration, and concert singer Christopher Macchio was taken that night at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
If you saw pictures of the event, you likely saw something like this on social media:
THE GOLDEN AGE 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/eRZR36iJQF
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 19, 2025
However epic and triumphal that photo may be, the footage of the president-elect and Melania Trump enjoying the fireworks is a lot more heartening.
🚨PURE BEAUTY: President Trump and First Lady Melania are watching fireworks and listening to Christopher Macchio sing “God Bless America.”
God bless this family that has given up everything to save this country!
pic.twitter.com/j40MZ90Xpv— Bo Loudon (@BoLoudon) January 19, 2025
This footage of the soon-to-be first couple came after Trump “addressed the crowd, giving shoutouts to Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and declaring his Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff a ‘great negotiator,’” Fox News reported. “Witkoff this past week helped negotiate a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas” that took effect on Sunday.
Who would you rather represent the country as the first last?
“Soon after his remarks, Trump stepped out onto a clubhouse balcony while guests gathered on the patio below him for a fireworks display and performance by tenor Christopher Macchio.”
Macchio, 46, has been called “America’s tenor” thanks in part to his association with Trump, including singing at the former and future president’s events.
According to the Associated Press, his big break came nearly a decade ago when he was asked to pinch-hit for another singer at a New Year’s Eve party. He ended up doing so well that singer Rod Stewart, in attendance that night, asked the tenor to perform at his 70th birthday party.
Trump was even more effusive, Macchio said during an interview with WCBS-TV.
“He said, ‘Your voice is unbelievable, magnificent. I can’t tell who is better, you or Pavarotti,’” Macchio reported.
The pair’s friendship became cemented after Macchio sang during a 2020 White House memorial for the then-president’s brother Robert, according to the AP.
In an interview with the AP, Macchio talked about the inauguration being moved indoors and the pluses and minuses therein.
“I was looking forward to seeing 100,000 people spread across the National Mall,” he said. “Unfortunately, I won’t be getting that visual while I perform, but it’s still going to be such a tremendous honor.”
However, he noted that “from a musical and vocal perspective, it’s actually a good thing.” Not only are there better acoustics indoors, but extreme cold can take a toll on a vocalist’s instrument.
After Trump’s October rally in Butler, Pennsylvania — the place where he was shot in July — the candidate told Macchio, “I’ll be seeing you at the inauguration.”
“He didn’t really specify what that meant,” Macchio said, until a staffer with the president-elect called and said he was the “first and only choice” to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Consider the difference: Lady Gaga did the honors at Joe Biden’s inauguration, and the final time Barack Obama was inaugurated, it was Beyoncé. For Trump, it was a guy who rose from obscurity to become “America’s tenor” — a perfect metaphor for why voters chose the Republican Party en masse this time around.
“For those folks who might not have voted for President Trump, I hope that they’ll give me that kind of opportunity to just listen and just really connect with the music,” Macchio said. “I’ll be doing the national anthem, and it is meant to do honor to our great country.”
His rendition of “God Bless America” also does plenty of honor to our country, as the video proves. One hopes this is only an amuse-bouche for what we’ll be seeing on Monday in terms of musical talent and sheer political elation.
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