Politics - News Analysis

Trump Says He Made Juneteenth Famous and No One Ever Heard of it Before Him

Trump is always good for a quote that demonstrates he has no limit in his ability to give himself credit.

The man who, when touring the National Museum on African American history, and being told about the Netherlands’ role in the slave trade, leaned toward the curator and famously said; “You know, they love me in the Netherlands,” is back to share more of his perspective on African American History. He has done more good!

Of late, we have learned that the Trump campaign “mistakenly” set the date for its first “return rally” in Tulsa Oklahoma on the date that African Americans set aside for the celebration of the end of slavery, “Juneteenth,” or June 19th. We also note that the Trump campaign also selected Tulsa Oklahoma.

It was an odd choice.

Oklahoma is one of the least competitive states, but Tulsa was the scene of the biggest race riot in American history, the site of 300 black Americans killed in 1921 … no one ever thought that Trump was aware of any of this, but perhaps elements in his campaign were … and told Trump.

We cannot know. What we can know is that Trump is now acutely aware of “Juneteenth,” and so are all of us – indeed, many have talked about making the day a national holiday. A holiday celebrating the end of slavery seems far more appropriate than one for Columbus. Trump senses the moment because he now wants to take credit for the whole “Juneteenth” thing. No one had heard of it before Trump.

Trump made the audacious claim in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal that he singlehandedly made Juneteenth — a holiday that’s existed for well over 100 years — “very famous” when he agreed to move his Tulsa rally to another date. “I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” Trump said. “It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.” Trump insisted that no one around him was familiar with the holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the U.S.

Well, if Trump means that he “inadvertently” did something good, we might agree. He didn’t do it on purpose, but his malignancy has resulted in people wanting to right some wrongs and begin a much longer, better, discussion on race relations. But he certainly didn’t mean to do it. He will take credit anyway. You know, they love him in Tulsa.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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