Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) organized a private delegation to represent Pennsylvania at Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair, overruling Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D-PA) claims that no businesses were interested in sponsoring the festivities.
The bipartisan duo announced over the weekend that they secured private-industry sponsors to host the state’s booth at the giant Washington, D.C., festival at “no cost to taxpayers.” Sponsors said they joined the event because “Pennsylvania’s story is simply too important to be missing from our nation’s capital during America’s 250th birthday celebration,” and will include the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry.
The development comes after Shapiro confirmed last Thursday that Pennsylvania would not send a delegation to the 16-day Great American State Fair, the sprawling festival run by Freedom 250, which is the private-public organization President Donald Trump created to celebrate the United States’s 250th anniversary. In an interview with the New Republic, the governor criticized Trump, but credited a lack of interest from possible sponsors for driving his decision to pull out of the event. He said aides asked companies across the state about whether they would like to join the coming fair, but said that “none were interested.” Around $700,000 in taxpayer funds that Pennsylvania would have spent on the fair are instead being used for celebrations in the state, according to Shapiro.
“It reflects this sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in—that the president has politicized this to a degree that businesses don’t want to participate,” the governor said. “This president routinely makes patriotism partisan and personal—and it shouldn’t be that way.”
The state’s Department of Community and Economic Development backed up Shapiro at the time, saying that “unfortunately, due to the high cost to taxpayers and not being able to secure PA businesses to sponsor the booth, Pennsylvania will not be a participant in the Great American State Fair.”
However, industry leaders questioned the Shapiro administration’s claims in comments to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The state’s search for business sponsors was brief and began less than two weeks before the fair was set to begin, even though other states had been working on displays since January, according to the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, which was charged with finding sponsors. At least two major Pennsylvania companies agreed to provide products and other donations to give away at Pennsylvania’s fair booth but were unable to initially do so due to short notice, according to the outlet.
“The Governor’s team asked us for assistance with business outreach for the Great American State Fair just two weeks before the event. While there was interest, the short time frame made it difficult for many businesses to fully commit,” the chamber’s senior vice president of public affairs said. “We are now reengaging those and other companies as we partner with Sens. McCormick and Fetterman.”
The Great American State Fair is being held on the National Mall from June 25 through July 10. Ten states, nine led by Democratic governors, have pulled delegations from the festival, most citing budget concerns. All 50 states will still be represented, either through displays set up by Freedom 250 or through private-sector-led initiatives, as Pennsylvania is doing.
Trump started the fair with a speech at the National Mall last week.
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“It’s going to be great. It’s going to be unbelievable,” the president said.
“Just like those patriots of 1776, over the past 17 months, we have taken power back from the far-off political class,” he added. “They’re trying to gain it back, but it’s not going to happen. We have reclaimed our sovereignty, regained our liberty, restored our prosperity, and we have saved our country in all things. We are once again putting a thing called America first.”