Former President Donald Trump has been cast as a “bull in a china shop,” but he continues to prove himself to be an agile and savvy political operator. This week, Trump capitalized on what many perceived to be a misstep by President Joe Biden by mocking his “Transgender Visibility Day” declaration and offering an alternative: “Christian Visibility Day.”
Biden’s surprising move to ban “religious-themed eggs from the White House’s Easter Egg design contest for kids” was followed by his promotion of “Transgender Visibility Day,” which fell on Easter Sunday this year.
A White House press release encouraged “All Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people.”
Biden was widely criticized for his declarations; some media leaders attempted to parse words and support Biden by noting the President did not indicate that Easter Sunday would become “Transgender Visibility Day.”
Technically, Biden affirmed March 31 as “Transgender Visibility Day,” which happened to fall on Easter Sunday this year. Nevertheless, Trump asserted the White House declarations were offensive.
FACT CHECK OF @9news: FAKE NEWS TRYING TO COVER FOR BIDEN. Biden is well-documented declaring Easter 2024 as “Transgender Day of Visibility”. Here is Biden’s own press release. https://t.co/876Mhk9tMK pic.twitter.com/WVYMv2ITwR
— Conservative from Boulder (@a4waystop) April 2, 2024
The Daily Wire reported that during Tuesday’s campaign rally in Wisconsin, Trump joined those opposed to Biden’s Easter week declarations and accused the President of disrespecting Christians.
To the applause of a large crowd, Trump declared that should he be reelected, he would establish November 5 as “CHRISTIAN Visibility Day.”
The Washington Post noted that March 31 has been National Transgender Visibility Day since 2009. Many also recognize March 31 as Cesar Chavez’s birthday and National Crayon Day.
The Post report minimized the impact of Biden’s declarations, stating that much of the pushback by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Trump has been “opportunistic.”
The outlet argued that Trump saw Biden’s political misstep as an opportunity to bolster his support of “religious conservatives,” which, they argued, is “more limited than he suggests.”
The outlet noted that while Trump won “most of the Protestant” and approximately half of the Catholic vote in 2016 and 2020, Hillary Clinton (in 2016) and Biden (in 2020) “won more of the vote from members of other religious traditions and religiously unaffiliated voters.”
In the 2020 election, 29% of Christians voted for Biden or a third-party candidate. Trump is looking to capture this demographic to widen his lead in the polls.
