The fair is organized by Freedom 250, a nonprofit set up by the president and his allies to promote the country\u2019s semiquincentennial. Freedom 250 has clashed with \u2014 and overshadowed \u2014 America250, a bipartisan organization chartered by Congress a decade ago to prepare for the country\u2019s anniversary.<\/p>\n

Conservative organizations featured at the fair, according to a release sent on Friday by Freedom 250, include America Prays, a coalition of evangelical and other religious groups that calls for weekly prayer for the United States of America; the American Principles Project, a prominent political advocacy organization; and the Association of Mature American Citizens, which pitches itself as a rival to the AARP. <\/p>\n

Joining them is Hillsdale College, a small Christian liberal arts school known for its conservative bent, and Focus on the Family, a prominent anti-LGBTQ+ ministry that describes its mission as one dedicated to fostering \u201cmarriages that go the distance, equip parents to raise great kids and put Jesus Christ at the center of homes worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Democrats have charged that Trump has taken the bipartisanship out of the monumental anniversary. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) in February said that the administration<\/a> was working to \u201chijack the country\u2019s 250th anniversary and sell access, hide his donors and rewrite history.\u201d Also in February, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) launched a probe into Freedom 250\u2019s<\/a> fundraising practices. <\/p>\n

The fair will run from June 25 to July 10, \u201cand transform the National Mall into a living showcase of America\u2019s past, present, and future,\u201d organizers announced on Friday. <\/p>\n

“PRAY.COM is honored to be participating in the Great American State Fair as an opportunity to connect with people from across the country,” Steve Gatena, founder and CEO of Pray.com \u2014 one of the lead organizers of America Prays \u2014 said in a statement. “Our mission is to grow faith and cultivate community through technology, and we look forward to sharing resources that support prayer, encouragement, and spiritual well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of the other organizations immediately responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Painter Scott LoBaido, whose website promotes a print<\/a> of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani blowing up Manhattan, will also be doing live art at the fair, according to the Friday release.<\/p>\n

Organizers said more than 100 states and institutions will be represented with booths at the fair. The event is also drawing companies with no specific political affiliation, from C-SPAN to Meta and tractor company John Deere.<\/p>\n

“Americans have been arguing at the dinner table for 250 years and somehow still showed up to the same Fourth of July party,” Freedom 250 spokesperson Rachel Reisner said in a statement when asked about the conservative groups’ participation. “We’re not stopping now. The Great American State Fair, July 4 fireworks, the whole spectacular once-in-a-generation 250th anniversary blowout \u2014 it’s happening, and your neighbor with the opposing bumper sticker is going to be standing right next to you, probably enjoying it just as much. Freedom 250 is a celebration for America \u2014 which, last we checked, includes all of it. Every single star on that flag. See you there.” <\/p>\n

But some states have chosen to sit out. At least six states \u2014 Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Oregon \u2014 will officially not be sending anyone to the fair, NOTUS reported on Thursday<\/a>. Freedom 250 is bringing in other institutions from those states, the outlet wrote. <\/p>\n

In May, several musical artists dropped out of planned performances<\/a> at the fair after learning of its ties to Trump, prompting the president to announce plans to hold a political rally instead, scheduled for June 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be special at every level \u2014 A Rally to end all Rallies!\u201d he wrote on Truth Social last week<\/a>. \u201cWe don\u2019t want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we\u2019ve told them all to stay home. All we want is you, me, a few speakers, and the Greatest Music ever played, the same Music you have listened to for years!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The nation\u2019s conservative advocacy groups will be well represented at the Great American State Fair, a two-week-long exposition celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary on the National Mall that is blessed by President Donald Trump and his allies. The fair is organized by Freedom 250, a nonprofit set up by the president and his allies to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}