Trump Claims 'Nobody Had Ever Heard Of' Juneteenth Before He Made It 'Very Famous'

[sabra]

Source: Forbes

President Trump took credit for popularizing Juneteenth in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, stating that no one had ever heard of the June 19 holiday commemorating the emancipation of black slaves in the U.S. before he scheduled a political rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on that day, claiming, "I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous."

...

In Wednesday's WSJ interview, Trump said a black Secret Service agent told him the meaning of Juneteenth when the president initially faced criticism following his announcement of the rally.

...

Speaking of Juneteenth, Trump told the WSJ, "It's actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it."

The Trump administration has put out statements on Juneteenth in each of his first three years in office.

"Oh really? We put out a statement? The Trump White House put out a statement?" Trump said when informed of this fact. "Ok, ok. Good."

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/06/18/trump-claims-nobody-had-ever-heard-of-juneteenth-before-he-made-it-very-famous/#1e975886133e

[durablend]

1. ME ME ME IT'S ALL ABOUT ME!

"Have I told you yet this holiday is all because of ME and about ME ?"

[tinrobot]

2. Alt headline: "Trump admits he had no clue about Juneteenth until last week."

[aikoaiko]

3. Its very possible that no one on his staff knew about Juneteenth

But that's not saying much.

[George II]

7. Not Stephen Miller? Not Ivanka? Not Jared? I'm shocked!

[Judi Lynn]

4. He's so profoundly ignorant. I heard about it on a trip to Ft.Worth, in 1970,

from my husband's sweet and really white grandmother.

Apparently it was not a closely held secret from anyone.

What Trump really needs to admit is that he has never known anything at ALL, ever. He shouldn't confuse his stupidity with the awareness level of ordinary people.

[maxsolomon]

5. His entire life, he just runs his mouth with no consequences.

"The time for honoring yourself will soon be at an end."
-Maximus

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Wait -- there's a month between May and July? How come no one.... NT

[Iliyah]

8. Emancipation Proclamation of 1862 and the ending of the Civil War . . .

January 1, 1863 - all slaves to be freed in the country. It took approximately two or more years for states to set the slaves free. My grandmother from Decatur, Georgia told me that from what was verbally passed down the slaves were freed in May but it took longer than 2 years.

States did not free the slaves unilaterally. Texas freed the slaves on June 19, 1865 and I believe Juneteenth is a holiday there.

[forgotmylogin]

9. Whenever I45 speaks of "everybody/nobody" he means "rich white people"

That's the only group he identifies with or cares about.

[Mr.Bill]

10. Actually I think he just means himself. n/t

[sarge43]

11. I guess then Black Americans are "nobody".

Malignant narcissist

[Skittles]

12. OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE

MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CRK7376]

13. Maybe some troglidite

or Repub hasn't heard of Juneteenth, but lots of other folks have. I talk about it in my Reconstruction class with high school students in American History. Since I teach in a Title 1 school with 80% Black and Brown kids,most of them are acutely aware if Juneteenth.

[Botany]

14. Every time I think that Trump can't be any dumber and or more self obsessed and or any more

... lacking in basic decency he gets even worse.

[Freethinker65]

15. I have to admit I did not know the significance of the date

I am a 50 something year old public school and university educated Midwesterner. I feel the way I felt when I learned about internment camps from a classmate in 11th grade. Why hadn't this information come up before? WTF?

Certainly someone in the WH knew and Tulsa and the original date were purposely chosen. Only Trump could try to spin this as something Trump should be praised for.

[Firestorm49]

16. Now tell us about Finland, Mr. Stable Genius!

[Botany]

20. Donald Trump thought Nepal and Bhutan were in India. Called them Nipple and Button.

https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/donald-trump-nepal-bhutan-button-nipple-1449172-2019-02-06

And he didn't know that China and India shared a border too.

[BlueTsunami2018]

17. Lots of people have never heard of it.

Strange that my liberal friends all have though. Maybe not so strange really.

[SmartJellyfish]

18. Quote Frederick Douglass:

"Hey Don. What am I? Chopped liver?"

[Vivid Lizard]

19. If True, He's in Good Company Then...

NO ONE ever heard of the picturesque towns of Buchenwald or Auschwitz until Himmler made them famous!

NO ONE ever heard of the beautiful Ford's Theater until John Wilkes Booth made it famous!

NO ONE knew the date of December 7, 1941 until Admiral Yamamoto made it famous!

NO ONE had a clue about the Ides of March until Brutus and his friends played a game of Pin the Needle in Julius on that date and made it famous!

And the list goes on and on and...

[dhill926]

22. well done....

[neeksgeek]

21. Here's some other holidays Needy Amin can promote

January 21: Squirrel Appreciation Day

February 15: Singles Awareness Day

April 11: National Pet Day

August 10: National Lazy Day

September 8: National Wife Appreciation Day

[Grokenstein]

24. There was some discussion of his executive orders recently.

One of his very first EOs designated the date of his inauguration as "National Day of Patriotic Devotion."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_National_Day_of_Patriotic_Devotion

The way that name alone checked off every box it could should have been all the warning we needed.

[neeksgeek]

26. Absolutely!! The only people who thought...

That was a good idea do NOT believe in democracy.

[LudwigPastorius]

23. Shut yer grease hole, you deficient, orange blob.

I truly expect to see what's left of his brain leaking out of his ears, like warm tapioca, at his next press conference.

[Grokenstein]

25. One day he'll bump his head

and it'll collapse with a revolting noise as the air rushes out, like a whoopee cushion with a wig.

[love_katz]

27. "A whoopee cushion with a wig".

Dying of laughter! Perfect! Thank you for the gut buster.

[AllyCat]

28. I heard of Juneteenth before I heard of him.

So he’s lying again. I’m sure I am not the only one.

[heckles65]

29. I had not heard of Juneteenth until compartively recently

but even then, we're talking the Nineties, when I understood it to be a local Texas celebration.

[aggiesal]

30. I found out about Juneteenth in the 80's ...

He probably hasn't heard of Kwanzaa either!

He truly is the Big IDIOT!