It was supposed to be a purely patriotic occasion — President Donald Trump banished the Philadelphia Eagles from their own Super Bowl victory celebration, replacing it with a “Celebration of America.”
But then the Marine Corps band struck up the familiar strains of “God Bless America.” And when video of the ensuing moments went viral, many people speculated that perhaps the song isn’t actually so familiar to Trump. Champion of patriotism though he might be, his lips stopped moving during most of the lyrics.
The song was written by an immigrant. Irving Berlin arrived in New York at age 5 as Israel Baline, the son of a cantor fleeing persecution of the Jews of Russia.