Melania Trump decided to commemorate Juneteenth by reading from a book about the day slavery in Texas officially ended. But while she likely meant well, for some people, her reading of the book All Different Now, [1] by author Angela Johnson, stirred up memories of her husband’s continual erroneous claims [2] that former President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. These claims [3] spawned the whole “birther conspiracy movement” which still drags on today. Perhaps Melania thinks differently about this, but that whole “guilt by association” cliche seems appropriate here.
At any rate, she also talked about her trip to Ghana, where she visited the House of Slaves, [4] which housed millions of Africans before they were transported to the U.S., Indy100 [2] reports.
But with her husband’s “birther” comments still rankling, more than a few Twitter users had something to say.
Hey guys quiet down the birther is here to lecture us about the importance of Juneteenth.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) June 19, 2020 [5]
Remember when you got famous on a racist lie about the president of the United States? We do.
— Molly Jong-Fast๐ก (@MollyJongFast) June 19, 2020 [6]
Ok, birther. We believe your sincerity. We know you didn't really traffic in the racist birtherism conspiracy theories.
<๐๐๐ง๐๐๐จ๐ข ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ>#JUNETEENTH2020 [7] #JuneTeenth [8] #JuneteenthDay [9] https://t.co/DcmD1SGOHd [10] pic.twitter.com/uy7uatQMeF [11]— Khary Penebaker (@kharyp) June 19, 2020 [12]
Would that it had been โAll Different Now.โ โSlaveryโ ended. But, Jim Crow, Black Codes, Lynchings, the KKK, Disenfranchisement, Gerrymandering, White Supremacy, Discriminatory Hiring Practices, Racial Profiling, Inferior Education & BIRTHERISM followedโฆ3rd Lady. https://t.co/KBl0Tbs3Gh [13]
— Star Jones (@StarJonesEsq) June 19, 2020 [14]
A great way to send a message of equality, humanity and togetherness is a wide shot in which the only person in the frame is completely overwhelmed by ridiculously opulent furniture https://t.co/bI6sCD8ID8 [15]
— Meredith Blake (@MeredithBlake) June 19, 2020 [16]
Her husband is also facing widening criticism in light of the fact that his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma (which was an enormous flop) comes the day after Juneteenth. Tulsa was the site of a massacre, committed in 1921 by a white mob that used aircraft to bombard an area in the city known as Black Wall Street. Several black-owned businesses were destroyed and 36 people were killed. It’s noted as one of the “single worst acts of racial violence in U.S. History.”
Trump is further igniting racial tensions in the U.S. as protests continue over the police custody death of George Floyd by doing things like daring “protesters, anarchists, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma” to show up, bellicosely threatening [17] on Twitter to “understand you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!”
In other words, Trump is being his typical self.
Any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle, or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2020 [18]