GOP Chairwoman: Juneteenth is a ‘source of pride’ for Republicans because we made it happen

In a Twitter thread this Saturday, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, gave a shout out to the newly-minted national holiday Juneteenth, declaring that her party joins “all Americans in celebrating #Juneteenth, a joyful and momentous day commemorating the end of slavery in our country.”

“Although Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation more than 2 years earlier, it wasn’t until this day in 1865 that Union General Granger was able to get to Galveston, Texas to let those remaining enslaved Americans know the Civil War was over and all slaves were free,” she wrote.

According to McDaniel, the Republican Party “will always be proudly connected to Juneteenth because of President Lincoln’s leadership, and we enthusiastically welcome its adoption as our newest national holiday after President Trump called for it last year.” She went to say that although Juneteenth is of “special importance” to Black Americans, it should also be a source of pride “for Republicans and every American.”

In the comments beneath McDaniel’s thread, someone shared a BuzzFeed article highlighting the 14 Republicans who voted against making Juneteenth a national holiday.

As POLITICO points out, Trump told the outlet one year ago this week that he had brought Juneteenth into the national spotlight. “Nobody had heard of it,” Trump said. When POLITICO’s Michael Bender told Trump that his administration had put out statements in each of his first three years in office commemorating Juneteenth, he seemed surprised.

‘”Oh really?’ he said. ‘We put out a statement? The Trump White House put out a statement?’ Each statement, put out in his name, included a description of the holiday. But such details were irrelevant to him. Instead, he insisted, ‘I did something good. I made Juneteenth very famous,'” Bender wrote.

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.