Trump Boasts He Made Juneteeth ‘Very Famous’ Even Though Holiday Is 155 Years Old
He expressed surprise to learn his White House has put out statements to honor the holiday celebrating the freeing of slaves each year of his presidency
President Donald Trump took credit for making Juneteenth, the 155-year-old holiday commemorating the end of slavery, “very famous” in an interview with the Wall Street Journal this week.
“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” said the president while discussing coverage of a widely-criticized plan to have his first rally in three months on June 19th, the date Americans celebrate the freeing of all slaves in Texas in 1865.
He eventually pushed his Tulsa, Okla., rally back to the 20th and revealed to the Wall Street Journal that he became aware of Juneteenth’s meaning when a black Secret Service officer explained it amid the uproar over his initial decision to hold the rally on the day of the holiday.
According to the Journal, Trump said he’d polled people around him and none had heard of Juneteenth. When he asked an aide during Wednesday’s Oval Office interview if she had, he was surprised to learn his administration had released statements commemorating the holiday every year he’s been in office.
“Oh really? We put out a statement? The Trump White House put out a statement?” he asked, according to the paper, before declaring that “good.”
Juneteenth, also referred to as Freedom Day, commemorates when news of the abolition of slavery reached the last of the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas as the Union army read the federal order on June 19, 1865 almost two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Trump’s team was criticized particularly for announcing a campaign rally on Juneteenth in Tulsa, where a white mob attacked black community members in 1921, amid national unrest and protest over systemic racism.
George Floyd Remembered at Minneapolis Memorial Service (Photos)
A memorial service was held for George Floyd in Minneapolis Thursday, ten days after a police officer killed him by using his knee to choke him for more than 8 minutes, while other officers standing by mocked his pleas for help.
All four former Minneapolis police officers involved in the fatal arrest have been charged. Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, faces second-degree murder charges. The three other officers are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
Thursday's memorial at North Central University is the first of several; services will also be held in North Carolina and Texas.
Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy in front of attendees which included the Floyd family, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III and more.
Photo credit: Getty Images
George Floyd's hearse arrives at North Central University for the first of several memorial services. In the upper right, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and Sgt. Dave O'Connor kneel as the hearse drives by.
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Floyd's memorial service was streamed on television and online.
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Reverend Al Sharpton arrives at George Floyd's memorial service. Sharpton and other mourners wore face masks given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The NAN logo stands for the National Action Network the civil rights organization Sharpton founded in 1991.
Photo credit: Getty Images
George Floyd's casket is prepared before the service. The image in the background is the mural drawn near the sidewalk where he was killed. NAN banners flank the artwork.
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Floyd's family stand in solidarity during the service.
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Shareeduh Tate, cousin of George Floyd, is held by Brandon Floyd, nephew of George Floyd, as those gathered paused silently for eight minutes and 46 seconds -- the length of time Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck.
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Actress Tiffany Haddish weeps during the moment of silence. Other celebrities in attendance were T.I., Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Hart and Marsai Martin.
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Brandon and Philonise Floyd, brothers of George Floyd embrace while listening to Shareeduh Tate speak. The Floyds wore pins emblazoned with "I Can't Breathe" -- their brother's final words.
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Pallbearers wheel out George Floyd's golden casket following the service.
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Media and on-lookers watch as George Floyd's casket is loaded into a hearse. His body will be transported to his hometown of Raeford, North Carolina, where a private family service will be held on Saturday. A public service will be held Monday in Houston, Texas -- two weeks after his death.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy for Floyd, who was killed in police custody on Memorial Day
A memorial service was held for George Floyd in Minneapolis Thursday, ten days after a police officer killed him by using his knee to choke him for more than 8 minutes, while other officers standing by mocked his pleas for help.
All four former Minneapolis police officers involved in the fatal arrest have been charged. Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, faces second-degree murder charges. The three other officers are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
Thursday's memorial at North Central University is the first of several; services will also be held in North Carolina and Texas.
Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy in front of attendees which included the Floyd family, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Sheila Jackson-Lee and Ayana Pressley, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III and more.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images
