President Donald Trump took to social media Thursday on Juneteenth, a federal vacation, to criticize the variety of “non-working holidays” in the US.
“Too many non-working holidays in America. It’s costing our Nation $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to maintain all of those companies closed. The employees don’t need it both! Quickly we’ll find yourself having a vacation for each as soon as working day of the yr. It should change if we’re going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote in a put up on his Fact Social platform.
Juneteenth is the oldest common US celebration of the top of slavery. It commemorates June 19, 1865 – the day that Union Military Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and advised a bunch of slaves that the Civil Conflict had ended and so they have been free – greater than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Throughout Thursday’s White Home press briefing, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt advised reporters Trump was unlikely to mark the federal vacation.
“I’m not monitoring his signature on a proclamation as we speak,” Leavitt stated. “I do know this can be a federal vacation — I need to thank all of you for displaying as much as work. We’re definitely right here, we’re working 24/7 proper now.”
Trump has beforehand tried to take credit score for making Juneteenth “very well-known,” saying throughout his first time period in 2020 that, “no person had ever heard of it.” His feedback got here whereas the nation was reeling from ongoing civil unrest after George Floyd’s demise by the hands of Minneapolis cops.
Trump had beforehand pledged to make Juneteenth a federal vacation throughout his 2020 presidential marketing campaign. Juneteenth didn’t develop into an official vacation till 2021, underneath President Joe Biden’s administration.
Since his reelection, Trump has made the elimination of DEI packages a centerpiece of his administration, cracking down on range efforts within the federal authorities with a collection of govt orders.
CNN’s Donald Judd contributed to this report.
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