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Former President Joe Biden slammed critics of Juneteenth as he spoke Thursday at an AME church service in Galveston Island, Texas – the city where, on June 19, 1865, Gen. Gordon Granger issued the final federal orders enforcing emancipation at a time before telephones.
Biden criticized the idea that Juneteenth is not worthy of federal holiday status. He also recalled visiting the Black community in Northeast Wilmington often while growing up in Claymont – suggesting he visited the underserved neighborhood after attending early-morning Catholic Mass in Greenville, Del.
He also appeared to stop himself before slamming President Donald Trump by name – mentioning “this guy” – then pausing to make the Sign of the Cross to applause from the congregants.
“I used to chair the African Affairs subcommittee,” Biden claimed. “I’ve been to the origins of where slavery started [in Africa]. And to listen to them talk about it now, how things are changing. We have to remember, our country is founded on the promise of freedom; freedom for everybody,” he said.
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Former President Joe Biden makes the sign of the cross to avoid criticizing Donald Trump. (Pool feed screenshot)
“So, the events of Juneteenth are of monumental importance to the American story,” he said, calling slavery “America’s original sin.”
Of the holiday’s critics, he said, “They don’t want to remember – but we all remember the moral stain. . . . “
“Well, I took the view as president, we need to be honest about our history, especially if there’s been any time going ever to erase our history. Not just here, but, this guy–” he added, trailing off and signing himself.
“Too many people are trying to erase our history, especially in the face of ongoing efforts to erase history from our textbooks and our classrooms.”
He went on to implicitly criticize Trump for returning southern military bases to their former names. However, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently noted in congressional testimony that the rescission of the base renamings does not return them to the namesakes of the Confederate generals but to other U.S. military heroes with the same surname.
“[D]arkness can hide much but can erase nothing,” Biden said. “The Scripture tells us faith without work is dead.”
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Biden then suggested Black Americans and other minorities are still facing roadblocks to the ballot box six decades after the Civil Rights Act.
“Stop those who try to make it more difficult to vote, and help people register to vote. Let’s reach out to our families, our friends, our neighbors, remind them how critical it is,” Biden said.
For his part, Trump said Thursday the additional federal holiday enacted by Biden is costing the U.S. “billions of dollars to keep all of these businesses closed.”
“Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every working day of the year.”
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Some other leaders, like West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, issued Juneteenth proclamations but kept state offices open on the nation’s newest federal holiday.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
