Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Calls Juneteenth ‘Useless' After Recently Observing It on Social Media
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“Cancel Juneteenth or one of the other useless [holidays] we made up,” Ramaswamy, who is vying for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, told a crowd of Iowa voters on Saturday
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Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks outside of the Miami federal courthouse where former President Donald Trump was arraigned on 37 federal charges hours laterVivek Ramaswamy, a conservative entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate, suggested putting an end to Juneteenth — the annual holiday commemorating the day that slavery officially ended in America, on June 19, 1865.
The remark came as Ramaswamy explained to a crowd of Iowa voters that in order to establish a new national voting holiday, the government may want to nix an existing one.
“Cancel Juneteenth or one of the other useless ones we made up,” Ramaswamy, 37, said to applause, NBC News reports.
When NBC News asked Ramaswamy to clarify whether he thought Juneteenth was “useless," he replied, “I basically do.”
After more than 150 years of being celebrated in local and state communities, Juneteenth — also known as Black Independence Day — was declared a federal holiday in 2021, after President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by both the House and Senate making it so.
And fewer than two months ago, Ramaswamy still seemingly celebrated the holiday, sharing a video on X, then known as Twitter, calling Juneteenth "a celebration of the American Dream itself."
"Juneteenth is a new holiday so we still have a chance to define what it means to us," he captioned the video. "It needn’t be about grievance & self-flogging. Let it be a celebration of the American Dream itself."
Related: Juneteenth 2023: Everything You Need to Know About Juneteenth
Ramaswamy announced his 2024 bid for the presidency during a late-February appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight and in a subsequent Wall Street Journal editorial.
"To put America first, we need to rediscover what America is. That's why I am running for president," Ramaswamy wrote in his op-ed. "I am launching not only a political campaign but a cultural movement to create a new American Dream — one that is not only about money but about the unapologetic pursuit of excellence."
Related: Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Names Ted Cruz as a Potential Supreme Court Pick
The Ohio native has courted some controversy for his views, and has been outspoken against companies using their platforms for social causes. He has echoed the views of many far-right Republicans that America's values are in decline, citing critical race theory, self-victimization, and efforts to stop climate change as things that have destroyed the nation's once-shared identity.
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In his editorial announcing his candidacy, Ramaswamy called for securing the border, eliminating affirmative action "across the American economy," and declaring economic independence from China, which he calls "the greatest external threat to America."
Other Republican presidential contenders have also recently sparked controversy for their stances on slavery. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for instance, recently defended new education standards around teaching slavery in Florida schools that will show enslaved people "developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."
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