Source: Sean Rayford / Getty
President Donald Trump’s complaint about federal holidays on Juneteenth prompted social media to show his past support for it while campaigning.
As the nation observed Juneteenth on Thursday (June 19), the most noticable action — or inaction — was in the federal government save for a Truth Social post by President Donald Trump. He stated that he would get rid of “non-working holidays”, complaining that “Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year,” without acknowledging Juneteenth by name, concluding “It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Juneteenth observes June 19th, 1865, the day when those Black Americans enslaved in Galveston, Texas were informed by a Union Army general that the Civil War had ended and that they had been freed by President Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation two and a half years before. It was made a federal holiday by President Joe Biden in 2021, and it cannot be revoked without an act of Congress.
Trump’s stance was echoed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during her press conference. After answering a question concerning a potential proclamation for Juneteenth, she replied: “I’m not tracking his signature on a proclamation today. I want to thank all of you for showing up to work. We are certainly here.” Trump had signed up to eleven proclamations in the past week alone for Father’s Day, Flag Day as well as the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, which are not among the 11 annual federal holidays.
According to reporting from The Guardian, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth requested a “passive approach to Juneteenth messaging” in an email sent out earlier this week. The news comes after Hegseth has obeyed orders from Trump to carry out his elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), seen in renaming military installations like Fort Bragg and warships such as one named after the slain Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers.
But Trump’s social media post was swiftly called out by many on social media who noted that during his presidential campaign in 2020, he promoted Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday as part of his “Platinum Plan” geared towards earning votes among the Black community. Former President Joe Biden spent the day on Galveston Island, attending the Juneteenth Emancipation March and Service held at Reedy Chapel AME, where he also paid homage to the late Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee who worked to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
Trump Complains About Juneteenth, X Shows Off His Hypocrisy
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