Former President Joe Biden commemorated Juneteenth in Galveston, Texas, hours after President Donald Trump raged there are “too many” holidays in the U.S.
Biden spoke at a Juneteenth celebration inside Galveston’s Reedy Chapel on Thursday evening. His speech comes one month after his prostate cancer diagnosis.
Juneteenth, which Biden designated as a federal holiday in 2021, commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. The holiday is celebrated on June 19, the day in 1865 when the end of slavery was enforced in Texas, more than two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
“Juneteenth is a day of liberation, a day of remembrance, a day of celebration,” Biden told the congregation.
“Black history is American history,” he added.
Trump did not acknowledge the holiday, but he did make a post on Truth Social complaining that the U.S. has “too many non-working holidays.”
“It is costing our Country $BILLIONS OF DOLLARS to keep all of these businesses closed,” Trump wrote. “The workers don’t want it either! Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Biden used his speech to hit out at those who claim Juneteenth shouldn’t be a federal holiday.
“Some say to me and to you that this doesn’t deserve to be a federal holiday,” Biden said Thursday night. “They don’t want to remember, but we all remember, the moral stain of slavery.”
“I took the view as president that we need to be honest about history, especially in the face of ongoing efforts to erase our history,” he added.
Biden then appeared to allude to Trump, telling the congregation it’s “not just him” before pausing and raising his eyebrows. The room erupted into cheers and laughter as Biden did the sign of the cross before continuing.
Biden went on to tell the congregation he “played a role” in renaming military camps across the country that were named after Confederate leaders.
“But what are we doing now? Reinstating those names,” Biden said.
The Trump administration recently reverted the names of several bases that were changed under Biden.
“We are also going to be restoring the names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort AP Hill and Fort Robert E. Lee,” Trump said while speaking from Fort Bragg last week.
Biden isn’t the only one who appears to be criticizing Trump on Juneteenth.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized Republicans in a statement Thursday, arguing they’re making “an intentional effort to turn back the clock and tear our country apart.”
“That struggle roars on, with President Trump and MAGA extremists banning books about Black history, dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs and trying to detonate the citizenship protections of the 14th Amendment,” Jeffries said.
