The campaigns of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump shared messages commemorating Juneteenth on Wednesday.
June 19 marks the day in 1865 when roughly 250,000 still-enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were told that the Civil War had ended and that they had been declared legally free, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Although Juneteenth has been an official state holiday in Texas since 1980, it has been a federal holiday only since 2021. On June 16, 2021, Congress passed a bill making it a holiday, with Biden signing it into law on June 17.
Former President Donald Trump speaks in Washington, D.C. on June 13. President Joe Biden speaks in Washington, D.C., on June 18. Trump and Biden released messages celebrating Juneteenth on June 19.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“I was proud to sign bipartisan legislation establishing Juneteenth as our newest federal holiday, so that all Americans can feel the power of this day, learn from our history, celebrate our progress, and recognize and engage in the work that continues,” Biden said, as he made the event official in 2021.
On Wednesday, both the Biden and Trump campaigns commemorated Juneteenth amid the 2024 presidential election. Biden and Trump are the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, respectively.
What Biden Campaign Said About Juneteenth
Biden commemorated the holiday in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
“Today, we honor the tireless work of abolitionists who made it their mission to deliver the promise of America for all Americans. Happy Juneteenth!” Biden posted.
In a separate press statement titled A Juneteenth History Lesson for Donald Trump, the Biden campaign took aim at Trump’s previous comments about the holiday.
“Four years ago, Trump even denigrated Juneteenth itself, saying that ‘nobody had ever heard of it’ before the backlash that came when he scheduled a rally on Juneteenth at the site of a historic massacre of Black Americans. Black leaders called his move a ‘slap in the face to Black people,'” the campaign wrote.
The Biden campaign also announced a new TV ad commemorating Juneteenth, according to a press statement. The ad will air in two cities in 2024 swing states—Atlanta, Georgia, and Detroit Michigan—and “celebrates the contribution of Black America in defining culture, blazing trails, and leading in the ongoing fight to realize the promise of America and build a nation that is more equal, more fair, and more free.”
What Trump Campaign Said About Juneteenth
The Trump campaign shared a statement from Janiyah Thomas, the campaign’s director of Black media, to commemorate the holiday.
“‘All slaves are free!’ This was the cry that rang out on June 19th, 1865. The principle of freedom has always been at the foundation of the Republican party. Today, we reflect on how far we [have] come as a nation and remember that light will always triumph over darkness,” the statement reads.
“With President Trump’s leadership, our party will continue to advance the American dream for all people.”
Trump had not issued a statement about Juneteenth by publication Wednesday.
Newsweek reached out to the Biden and Trump campaigns for comment via email.
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