International Courant
The White Home is pushing again in opposition to prime Republicans’ deceptive criticism of President Joe Biden for issuing a proclamation in assist of transgender folks on the identical day as Easter.
A spokesperson for the president rejected assaults from the Speaker of the Home of Representatives and others that Biden’s Transgender Day of Visibility message conflicts with Christianity.
“As a Christian who celebrates Easter with household, President Biden stands for bringing folks collectively and upholding the dignity and freedoms of each American,” White Home spokesman Andrew Bates mentioned in a press release to ABC Information.
“Sadly, it’s not stunning that politicians search to divide and weaken our nation with merciless, hateful and unfair rhetoric. President Biden won’t ever abuse his religion for political or profiteering functions,” Bates added.
Biden, who is simply America’s second Catholic president and repeatedly attends Mass, confronted mounting conservative criticism this weekend for a proclamation he issued on Friday honoring “the extraordinary braveness and contributions of transgender People” for Transgender Day of Visibility – which takes place yearly on March 31.
The date of Easter, which varies, fell on the identical day this yr.
Yearly since taking workplace in 2021, Biden has issued a proclamation marking March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility.
He additionally made a press release on Easter Sunday, saying partly that it “reminds us of the ability of the hope and the promise of Christ’s resurrection. Once we collect with family members, we keep in mind the sacrifice of Jesus. We pray for one another and cherish the blessing of the dawning of latest potentialities.”
President Joe Biden speaks as he broadcasts a tentative settlement with Intel for a serious CHIPS and Science Act award, throughout a go to to the Intel Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Ariz., March 20, 2024.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters, FILE
Speaker Mike Johnson on Saturday posted on X that the Biden administration has “betrayed the central precept of Easter – particularly the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
The speaker went on to say that Biden’s conduct round Easter was “outrageous and abhorrent,” together with him “declaring Easter Sunday ‘Transgender Day,'” though the president was really marking a date that has been celebrated since 2009.
ABC Information reached out to Johnson’s workplace for additional remark and didn’t obtain a response.
Former 2024 GOP presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy echoed Johnson’s assault in his personal social media posts.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, one other former Republican presidential candidate, additionally despatched a textual content message to his supporters — accompanied by a donation hyperlink — saying Biden had “offended Christians all over the place.”
Former President Donald Trump’s presidential marketing campaign joined the refrain of Republican critics on Saturday, calling Biden’s proclamation “blasphemous.”
“We name on Joe Biden’s failing marketing campaign and the White Home to apologize to the hundreds of thousands of Catholics and Christians throughout America who consider that tomorrow is however one celebration: the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” mentioned Karoline Leavitt, press secretary of the Trump marketing campaign in a speech. rack.
Trump has a historical past of questioning the spiritual beliefs of his opponents.
Biden allies are additionally difficult the assaults.
President Joe Biden speaks on the Washoe Democratic Social gathering Workplace in Reno, Nevada on March 19, 2024.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
“That is one other instance of individuals not figuring out the way to lead us and making an attempt to divide us, and that is the other of the Christian religion,” Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who can be a pastor in Atlanta, mentioned on CNN. on Sunday.
One other layer to the criticism of Biden this Easter weekend includes an egg artwork competitors for the annual Easter Egg Roll, scheduled for Monday on the White Home. Trump, Johnson, Scott and Ramaswamy every claimed the federal government had banned spiritual pictures as a part of the competition.
The American Egg Board, which works to advertise egg farmers, has partnered with the White Home for the annual Easter reveals for 47 years, together with throughout the Trump administration, a spokesperson informed ABC Information.
The spokesperson mentioned the board, which was created by Congress, should observe federal pointers, together with one which prohibits them from exhibiting favorably towards any faith — language they mentioned they’ve included of their promotions for years.
A replica of this yr’s flyer calling for entries within the youth egg artwork contest lists restrictions together with the promotion of discrimination, unlawful medicine and firearms or “any questionable content material, spiritual symbols, overtly spiritual themes or partisan political statements.” “
“The American Egg Board has been a supporter of the White Home Easter Egg Roll for greater than 45 years, and the rules referenced in current information reviews have been persistently utilized to the board throughout administrations since its inception,” the group mentioned in a press release.
ABC Information’ Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report.
The White Home rejects ‘unfair’ Republican criticism of Biden’s Easter transgender proclamation
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