Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has expressed criticism of Juneteenth, saying over the weekend he "basically" thinks the holiday is useless.
Ramaswamy, who is running for president in the 2024 election, described his thoughts on the holiday on Saturday, in which he said the United States should not have holidays that overlap each other in what they celebrate so that every holiday has "a distinct purpose." He also said Juneteenth was made into a U.S. holiday "under political duress" in the wake of George Floyd's death in 2020, according to a report.
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"I think that if we made a national commemorative holiday for everything that's important that happened in our history, we'd have no working days left," Ramaswamy said. "But I think that the spirit of Juneteenth, we already channel into other holidays, like Martin Luther King Day, like Presidents Day. I think we can commemorate the spirit of that holiday separately, so I think that we shouldn't have redundant holidays that celebrate overlapping purposes. It should have a distinct purpose."
Ramaswamy was seen talking to an audience in Iowa over the weekend, suggesting canceling Juneteenth "or one of the other useless ones [holidays] we made up.” In canceling one of the "useless" holidays, Ramaswamy proposed trading the canceled holiday for making Election Day a national holiday.
On Juneteenth of this year, Ramaswamy posted a video in which he discussed the holiday. The presidential candidate said that people celebrate the ability to "get ahead in this country based on your own hard work" on Juneteenth.
“What we celebrate is how far we’ve come," Ramaswamy said in the video. "And as a first-generation American myself, you better believe I’m proud of it. Happy Juneteenth, everybody."
Juneteenth is a new holiday so we still have a chance to define what it means to us. It needn’t be about grievance & self-flogging. Let it be a celebration of the American Dream itself. ???????? pic.twitter.com/NyHfbJoAlw
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) June 19, 2023
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President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, a bill declaring June 19 a federal holiday to mark the end of slavery in the U.S., in 2021. In its first year as a holiday, just 9% of private employers made Juneteenth a paid company holiday, which increased to 33% last year and grew to 39% this year.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) issued a statement on Juneteenth this year to encourage people to focus less on the sins of the past and more on the nation's future and progress.