As the conservative outrage continues over the fact that Easter and the Transgender Day of Visibility happened to fall on the same day this year, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was compelled to teach reporters how calendars work.
The criticism has mainly been aimed at President Joe Biden, who issued a TDOV proclamation last Friday. However, Biden didn't choose the TDOV and Easter's overlapping dates; the TDOV consistently falls on March 31, and Easter's date changes yearly.
Regarding the commotion caused by Republicans, a reporter asked Jean-Pierre at yesterday's White House press briefing, “The White House said that the president wouldn’t abuse his faith for political purposes. Does the president think that’s what Republicans are doing?”
Jean-Pierre replied, “I'm so surprised by the false information circulating about this, and I want to be very clear: Every year for the past several years, on March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility is recognized. And, as we know, for people who understand the calendar and how it works, Easter falls on different Sundays, correct? Every year. And this year, it happened to coincide with Transgender Visibility Day. So that is the simple fact.”
She condemned the abundance of false information that she claimed has been deliberately spread.
“As a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American… It is actually unsurprising that politicians are seeking to divide and weaken our country with cruel, hateful, and dishonest rhetoric. It is dishonest what we have heard the past 24 hours. It is untrue what we heard over the weekend.”
She then criticized Fox for behaving as if TDOV was intentionally scheduled on March 31 this year to disrespect Christians when they acknowledged it in 2021 with a tweet.
“We were, at first, I want to be very clear, confused on the coverage,” she said. “We’re grateful that Fox agrees with President Biden on the importance of recognizing Trans Day of Visibility. And I’ll just quote something that Fox said back in 2021.”
“They tweeted this: ‘Trans Day of Visibility is dedicated to celebrating transgender people. To all the transgender men, women and nonbinary folk, we see you and stand with you,’” Jean-Pierre said.
In response, an X account run by the Republican National Committee accused her of lying but didn’t say what she said that they believed was a lie.
Fox News then selectively aired clips of Jean-Pierre’s response and notably did not include the moment she pointed out Fox’s 2021 tweet.
Right-wingers who have expressed anger over Biden supporting TDOV include former President Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who called on the White House “to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only – the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) added, “The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Banning sacred truth and tradition—while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as ‘Transgender Day’—is outrageous and abhorrent. The American people are taking note.”
Caitlin Jenner, a conservative transgender woman, expressed her strong disapproval of Joe Biden's declaration of Transgender Day of Visibility as a sacred day, especially because Biden identifies as a devout Catholic.
She also stated that the only thing Biden should be emphasizing on that day is the resurrection of Jesus.
Johnson shared screenshots of two misleading news articles: one claimed Biden proclaimed Easter as Transgender Day of Visibility and the other alleged that he prohibited religious art at the White House's Egg Roll event. In reality, there has been a rule since 1978 that bans religious egg designs at the White House event. This rule was in place during Trump's presidency as well..
