Trump to Declare Christian Day in Response to Biden’s Easter Transgender Day

Former president and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Hyatt Regency in Green Bay, Wis., on April 2, 2024. Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump said he would declare a Christian day in response to President Joe Biden’s recent proclamation of a transgender day that fell on Easter Sunday this year.

“What the hell was Biden thinking when he declared Easter Sunday to be Trans Visibility Day?” the former president asked the crowd during his rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 2. “Such total disrespect to Christians.”

The 45th president then told his supporters that he would proclaim election day on Nov. 5 as “Christian Visibility Day.”

“November 5 is going to be called something else. You know what it’s going to be called? Christian Visibility Day, when Christians turn out in numbers that nobody has ever seen before,” President Trump said. “Let’s call it Christian Visibility Day.”

President Trump’s remarks come after President Biden on March 29 proclaimed March 31 as “Transgender Day of Visibility,” which coincided with Easter Sunday this year, sparking an uproar among Republicans and conservatives.

In his proclamation, the president touted his administration’s efforts to make public services more accessible for transgender Americans, including appointing transgender individuals to key positions in the administration and making official documents like passports more “inclusive” by including an X option for the gender marker.

The Trump campaign called the declaration “appalling and insulting,” stating that it highlights the “years-long assault on the Christian faith” from the Biden administration, and called on President Biden to apologize.

“We call on Joe Biden’s failing campaign and 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,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

However, on April 1, President Biden dismissed the criticism, saying, “I didn’t do that,” in response to a question from the press about him issuing the proclamation.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a former GOP presidential candidate, shares the same idea as the 45th president. He posted on the social media platform X on Sunday, “Happy Christian Day of Visibility—also known as Easter!”

‘Who’s Running the Presidency?’

After the president denied proclaiming Easter day this year as transgender day, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis raised questions about President Joe Biden’s ability to lead the country.

“Wait a minute, he said that didn’t happen, he said he didn’t do that, which raises the question that he’s either not being honest with the public or he really didn’t know what was going on,” Mr. DeSantis said during an event at the Greater Miami Expressway Agency on April 1.

“Who’s running the presidency? Is it a bunch of woke, 20-something-year-old White House staffers? So I don’t know who’s in charge. The fact that he’s not owning up to it. Either way, it’s bad,” Mr. DeSantis said. “Either he’s not being honest, or he really didn’t have anything to do with it. It’s the most important, for Christians, holiday on the calendar. And what Biden did, I think, was ridiculous.”

According to last year’s Pew Research Center survey, about 1.6 percent of U.S. adults identified themselves as transgender or nonbinary. Young adults are more likely than older adults to identify as transgender or nonbinary. Among adults under 30, 5.1 percent said they are transgender or nonbinary, including 2 percent as transgender men or transgender women and 3 percent as nonbinary.

The survey also found that about 27 percent of American adults say they have a friend who’s transgender, 13 percent have a transgender colleague, and 10 percent have a transgender family member. Additionally, 9 percent say they know a transgender person under 18.

Transgender issues have become prominent in America’s social and political landscape in recent years. Those on the left tend to support “gender-affirming care” laws. These laws, in some cases, block parents from having a say in their children’s decisions regarding gender-transition surgeries and other medical procedures considered high-risk.

Conservatives, by contrast, have backed laws that give parents more authority to prevent their children from undergoing transgender procedures and impose penalties on doctors who perform them without parental consent.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.