San Diego County’s officials and its Democratic-led Board of Supervisors are facing backlash after an America 250 Fourth of July celebration originally pitched as a tribute to the Declaration of Independence was reshaped with DEI-focused sponsorship rules.

The celebration’s main programming is expected to feature a tribal blessing, a land acknowledgment, and nearly two-hours of community-story segments centered on «historically underserved populations.»

Bill Wells, the mayor of San Diego County’s City of El Cajon, and other critics pointed out that America’s founding appeared to be sidelined in tentative plans for the upcoming countywide Fourth of July event held along a San Diego-area waterfront. The event, which is lacking funds needed for a full setup, saw at least one sponsor drop after it was mandated they attest to a series of DEI principles as a condition of participating, according to county board materials and internal county emails obtained by Fox News Digital. 

«I have an alternative plan: 1. Acknowledge America and its greatness. 2. Celebrate with fireworks and the American National Anthem,» Wells posted on X, alongside a copy of the 4th of July celebration’s planned schedule, which matches an internal county «run of show» obtained by Fox News Digital.

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The rundown obtained by Fox News Digital lists a «Tribal Intimate blessing welcoming to land» shortly after guest arrival and sound check, followed by a «Welcoming and Land Acknowledgment» led by the emcee, then a «Tribal Invocation,» the Black national anthem and regular national anthem, and then nearly two hours of community-story segments focused on local tribal, Latino, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, LGBT, and Black and African communities.

The event, which will also feature music, food trucks, booths and other «cultural presentations,» then concludes with closing remarks, fireworks and clean-up.

«The official government July 4th itinerary of San Diego reads like the opening ceremony of the Democratic Socialists of America convention,» quipped David McIntosh, President of the conservative political advocacy giant Club for Growth.

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Back in February, Jim Desmond, a Republican San Diego County Supervisor, introduced an agenda item to bring forward a Fourth of July event «commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,» citing the area’s «deep-rooted relationship to the nation’s defense and civic institutions.»

Subsequently, the board, which is controlled by a 3-2 Democratic majority, introduced and passed a motion to amend weeks later, which directed the county’s chief administrative officer to coordinate with the Office of Equity and Racial Justice and the county’s Tribal Liaison to incorporate community engagement focused on tribal nations, immigrant communities, LGBT communities and other «historically underserved groups.»

People celebrate the 4th of July along the La Jolla coast on a hot summer day on July 4, 2023 in San Diego, California. San Diego is a top destination for summer travel. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

«Supervisors Desmond and Anderson brought forward a 250th celebration for the whole region. The three Democrats rewrote it, tied it to the county’s ‘equity, inclusion, and racial justice goals,’ and handed planning to the Office of Equity and Racial Justice,» Wells explained on X, posting images of the meeting minutes that showed the Democrats’ amendments.

«Independence Day, especially this one, is about celebrating and honoring America,» the mayor added in comments to Fox News Digital. «What the county of San Diego has created ignores this in favor of grievance and a sense that our country is not great or worthy of pride. That’s just offensive, especially in light of the fact that they’re using taxpayer money to do so.»

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Among the changes was a requirement for event donors and sponsors to commit themselves to supporting the county’s woke DEI principles, which led at least one to drop out, according to internal county emails obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

The sponsor’s pending $2,500 donation did not move forward after the donor declined to complete a required form mandating they show alignment with the county’s values on DEI and support for immigrant communities, the county staff emails indicated. Meanwhile, staff separately said in the emails that the event was short thousands of dollars needed for a full stage, lighting and sound setup.

Hundreds protest outside a rally held by President Donald Trump at Macomb County Community College in Warren, MI, on April 29, 2025. (Getty Images/Dominic Gwinn)

«Democrats are essentially excluding White community members from the Fourth of July» anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck contended in response to the event’s planned schedule and «equity» focus on «underserved populations,» describing it as «vile.»

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Fox News Digital reached out to San Diego County, as well as its Department of Parks and Recreation, for comment on the criticism, but did not hear back.

Tehran is preparing for the July 9 burial of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, more than four months after his death, as authorities mobilize the Basij militia and mount a massive security operation ahead of what is expected to be a «historic» turnout.

The lengthy delay to the funeral has raised questions about how Khamenei’s remains have been preserved, as Islamic tradition, anaylsts say, generally calls for prompt burial and discourages chemical embalming.

«The mechanism is almost certainly refrigerated cold storage, not embalming, as Islam bars chemical embalming,» counterterrorism expert Dr. Mohammed Omar told Fox News Digital.

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«Shia law allows delayed burial and preservation by cold in exceptional cases, and a clerical exemption for a Supreme Leader is easy to get,» he added.

«Iran’s forensic morgues already hold bodies for months, so four months in freezing is not exotic. That is what ‘religious and legal standards’ cover,» Mohammed said.

Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28 with a targeted U.S. strike that killed Khamenei at his compound in Tehran. He had ruled the Islamic Republic for 36 years.

«There may not be much of a body to present. Khamenei was killed by a bunker-penetration strike, and others killed with him were recovered weeks later and identified by DNA,» Mohammed explained.

«A regime holding an intact body does not cancel the farewell, shift the burial site repeatedly, and confirm that he can be buried only days out.

«It reads less like reverence and more like remains they could preserve but not display,» he said.

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In this picture obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images)

With that, Iranian authorities are portraying the funeral as both a farewell to the leader and a show of strength under the slogan «We Must Avenge.»

According to Iranian state media, Yaqoub Soleimani, deputy for cultural and educational affairs at the Martyrs Foundation and one of the funeral’s organizers, said Wednesday the ceremony would be conducted «with full grandeur.»

Soleimani said a turnout of 1 million people would make the event «a historical occasion» and «a national epic in the memory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.»

The schedule starts with public viewings Saturday and Sunday in Tehran. A funeral procession is scheduled for July 6, where local authorities estimate 15 million to 20 million people could attend.

Another procession is planned the following day in Qom, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest cities.

«The numbers the regime is putting out — up to 20 million mourners in Tehran, 35 million nationwide, more than 90 countries represented, 14,000 journalists credentialed — are not logistics,» Mohammed, of the George Washington Program on Extremism, said.

«They are the message. Tehran is spending everything it has to project continuity and strength because after the war both are in question.»

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Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military personnel are walking along Enghelab (Revolution) Avenue as an Iranian Kheibar Surface-to-Surface missile is being unveiled during the Ela Beit Al-Moghaddas (Al-Aqsa Mosque) military rally in Tehran, Iran, on November 24, 2023. The IRGC is unveiling two new missiles during the rally. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

According to Iran International, Tehran is also preparing a massive security operation for the funeral.

«The Basij and the IRGC running this is the story, not a detail,» Mohammed said.

«The Basij is coordinating logistics — highways turned into parking, each Tehran district assigned a province, five public holidays declared — and the Guard has crowd control.

«This is a mobilization dressed as a funeral. The same apparatus organizing the grief this week is the apparatus that put down the January protests and denied funerals to the families of the people it killed then. American readers should hold those two facts next to each other,» he added.

While senior Iraqi officials will attend the funeral, representation from other major powers will be limited.

Although Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian personally invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India will instead send a lower-level official delegation.

Reports on June 30 also confirmed that Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili will attend the ceremony.

«No major power is sending its top leader,» Mohammed said.

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«For a regime that claims to lead a front stretching from Beirut to Sanaa, a regional turnout at its founder-successor’s funeral is the isolation showing through the pageantry.

«For Washington, it is a useful readout: the war left Tehran’s axis smaller and more regional than the regime advertises,» he added.

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, protagonizó este miércoles una llamativa escena durante una visita a la Biblioteca Presidencial Theodore Roosevelt, en Dakota del Norte.

Frente a un avatar impulsado por inteligencia artificial que recrea al exmandatario estadounidense, Trump mantuvo una conversación sobre el Canal de Panamá, una de las obras de infraestructura más importantes del siglo XX.

En un video difundido en redes sociales, Trump se acerca a la representación virtual de Roosevelt y le hace una pregunta directa: “¿Considera que el Canal de Panamá es su mayor logro?”

La respuesta del avatar, desarrollado con tecnología de Microsoft y la empresa LemonSlice AI, fue extensa y reivindicó tanto la construcción del canal como otras políticas impulsadas durante la presidencia de Roosevelt.

“Bueno… sí, en cierto sentido. El Canal de Panamá es, sin duda, uno de los logros de los que me siento más orgulloso. Pero la grandeza es algo curioso. No siempre se trata del proyecto más grande o del más visible», respondió la inteligencia artificial.

Luego agregó: “El Canal de Panamá demostró de lo que Estados Unidos era capaz cuando decidía actuar con rapidez y determinación. Sin embargo, si hablo de mi legado, pienso también en las reformas que mejoraron la vida de la gente. Protegimos nuestros recursos naturales, impulsamos la salud pública, combatimos enfermedades y procuramos que los beneficios del progreso alcanzaran a todos, y no solo a unos pocos».

El discurso concluyó con una referencia al impacto histórico de la obra: “Recuerdo sentarme a observar el Canal y ver pasar aquellos enormes barcos. Saber que estaban conectando océanos y cambiando para siempre el mapa del comercio mundial me hacía sentir que había contribuido a construir una obra que perduraría durante generaciones».

Tras escuchar la respuesta, Trump asintió y contestó: «Sí, realmente lo hizo“, antes de retirarse del lugar.

La conversación no fue casual. Durante el mismo acto, el presidente volvió a defender el papel de Estados Unidos en la construcción del Canal de Panamá y aprovechó para insistir con uno de los argumentos que viene repitiendo desde el inicio de su segundo mandato: el supuesto avance de China sobre esa infraestructura estratégica.

«China está intentando tomar el control del Canal de Panamá, y no vamos a permitir que eso ocurra“, aseguró durante su discurso ante los presentes.

Además, definió al canal como «la obra más cara que hemos construido jamás, pero también la más rentable» y cuestionó a las administraciones estadounidenses que impulsaron la transferencia del control de la vía interoceánica a Panamá.

Trump ya había anticipado esa postura durante su discurso de asunción, en enero de 2025, cuando afirmó que buscaría recuperar la influencia de Washington sobre el paso marítimo al considerar que Panamá cobra tarifas excesivas y que existe un creciente riesgo de influencia china en la región.

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El Canal de Panamá fue inaugurado el 15 de agosto de 1914, durante la presidencia de Woodrow Wilson. Sin embargo, su desarrollo quedó estrechamente ligado a Theodore Roosevelt, quien impulsó el proyecto desde el inicio. En 1903, Estados Unidos apoyó la independencia de Panamá de Colombia y, poco después, obtuvo los derechos para construir y administrar el canal.

Durante más de ocho décadas, Washington controló la vía y el territorio circundante. Recién tras los tratados firmados en 1977 entre ambos países comenzó un período de administración conjunta que culminó en diciembre de 1999, cuando el canal pasó definitivamente a manos panameñas.

Hoy, el paso interoceánico continúa siendo una pieza clave para el comercio global. Cada año lo atraviesan cerca de 14.000 embarcaciones y por allí circula alrededor del 2,5% del comercio marítimo mundial. La ruta resulta fundamental para el transporte de mercancías entre Asia y la costa este de Estados Unidos, además de las exportaciones estadounidenses de productos agrícolas y gas natural licuado.