Trump calls for "Christian Visibility Day" after Biden recognizes transgender holiday
Green Bay, Wisconsin - Donald Trump is still seething in response to President Joe Biden recognizing a recent holiday celebrating the transgender community, and is now proposing a new holiday of his own.
While speaking at a campaign event on Tuesday, Trump criticized Biden for calling attention to Transgender Day of Visibility, which happened to fall on Easter Sunday this year.
"What the hell was Biden thinking when he declared Easter Sunday to be 'Trans Visibility Day?'" Trump argued.
"Such total disrespect to Christians," he continued. "November 5 is going to be called 'Christian Visibility Day' – when Christians turn out in numbers that nobody's ever seen before!"
A number of prominent Republicans have falsely claimed that Biden "declared" the holiday on Easter.
But International Transgender Day of Visibility has been around since 2009 and is celebrated every year on March 31, while Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox.
Even in spite of the facts, Trump and others continue to push the narrative that Biden is behind it in an effort to spark resentment in Christian voters.
Trump and MAGA Republicans target Christian voters
Evangelical Christian and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson had an especially vitriolic reaction to Biden recognizing the LGBTQ+ holiday, describing it as "outrageous and abhorrent" and a betrayal of "the central tenet of Easter - which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
After Johnson was informed that Biden did not create the holiday, he has continued to double down, insisting that Biden "proclaimed" the holiday in his message.
With Christian Americans being the largest and most supportive voting block for the Republican Party, Trump and his allies have gone out of their way to appeal to religious voters in recent months.
As Trump, who has claimed to be a devout Christian for years, seeks re-election, he also faces 88 criminal charges, a number of other legal issues, and many personal scandals that critics regularly point out as an example that he does not embody the beliefs he claims to hold.
In an interview further defending his argument, Johnson explained that November's election "is about showing a contrast" between the two candidates. He also said Biden's "radical leftist, progressive vision is not who we are as Americans," adding, "most of the country agrees with us."
According to data reported by Axios, members of Congress are far more Christian and religious than most voters, signaling that Republican's Christian nationalism rhetoric might not be as effective as Johnson would like to believe.
Cover photo: Collage: Kevin Dietsch / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & JIM WATSON / AFP