August 8th 2023.
Conservative GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy recently caused a stir in the political world with his comments about Juneteenth. Just two months after posting a video celebrating the holiday, Ramaswamy now feels it is “useless” and should be moved to make room for a new national voting holiday.
During a conversation with voters in Iowa on August 5, 2023, Ramaswamy suggested that the now-federal holiday should be cancelled. “Cancel Juneteenth or one of the other useless ones we made up,” he told applauding potential voters. But his opinion was quite different when he posted a video to Twitter on June 19th.
“We don’t just look back and flog ourselves,” Ramaswamy said in the video. “What we celebrate is how far we’ve come. And as a first-generation American myself, you better believe I’m proud of it. Happy Juneteenth everybody.”
Juneteenth celebrates the Union troops announcing that several Black people had been freed in Galveston Bay, Texas, and it was made a federal holiday in 2021 by President Joe Biden. It has been observed since 2004.
Ramaswamy believes the holiday is “redundant” and overlaps with other holidays, like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day. He suggested that it was created under “political duress” following the death of George Floyd.
Despite his comments about Juneteenth, Ramaswamy has been vocal about the importance of diversity in his campaign, calling for people to come together and recognize how similar they truly are, according to The Hill. But his cancellation remarks were met with criticism from fellow Republican presidential hopeful, former Congressman Will Hurd, who said the holiday represents “equality and freedom.”
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