(Washington) President Donald Trump has silenced on the “Juneteenth”, an important day for African-Americans marking the end of slavery in the country, which he had nevertheless celebrated in each of his first four years to the presidency, even before he became a federal holiday.
Not a word about this, neither on paper nor on social media.
The White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt was asked about the possibility for Donald Trump to commemorate Juneteenth day in any way.
“I am not checking his signature on a proclamation today. I know it’s a federal holiday. I want to thank you all for being at work. We are here, of course. We are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at the moment, ”she replied.
Managers of the black community in the whole country, senior officials of the Trump administration and other personalities met on Wednesday at the White House to discuss better coordination between the leaders and the federal, state and local partners, according to a senior White House.
Photo Angelina Katsanis, Reuters
A crowd comes alive in New York during a concert celebrating the “Juneteenth”
The silence of the Republican President contrasts strongly with his previous mentions of this celebration. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States by commemorating on June 19, 1865, the date on which the Union soldiers brought the news of the black slaves of Galveston, Texas. This release occurred for more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln had released the slaves of the Confederation by signing the proclamation of emancipation during the Civil War.
Donald Trump’s silence on this issue also deviated from the White House guidelines that he planned to sign a proclamation for Juneteenth. Mme Leavitt did not explain this change. The president did not organize any public event on Thursday, but he shared declarations on Iran, the Tiktok application and the president of the Fed, Jerome Powell, on his social network.
In the evening, Donald Trump complained on his site “too many non -working holidays” and said that “maintaining all these closed businesses costs billions of dollars to our country”. However, most businesses are open on June 19, while most federal officials benefit from a day off because the government is closed.
He had spoken more of June 19 in his annual declarations of his first mandate.
In 2017, Donald Trump mentioned the “touching festivities and emotion” which overwhelmed the crowd of Galveston when a division general announced the release of all slaves.
He told Galveston’s story over the next three years. “Together, we honor the unshakable mind and the countless contributions from generations of African-Americans to the history of American greatness,” he added in his 2018 declaration.
In 2020, after having suspended his campaign rallies due to the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump had chosen Tulsa, in Oklahoma, as a place of recovery of his public gatherings and had scheduled a rally on June 19. But this decision aroused such criticism that the president had reported the event of a day.
Generations of African-Americans celebrated Juneteenth long before he became a federal holiday in 2021, under the pen of President Joe Biden.
AP Calvin Woodward journalist contributed to this article.
