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"I didn’t do that," Biden said when asked about proclaiming Easter Sunday 'trans day of visibility." Asked about Speaker Johnson's claim otherwise, the president replied, "he’s thoroughly uninformed."

— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) April 1, 2024

I know it's a day later, but the question remains: is there a conflict between these two positions? You'd better believe it -- even if the media was working overtime yesterday to supply methane for the gaslighting effort from Joe Biden and the White House.

The pushback relies on the fact that transgender activists have used March 31 as their self-declared "Transgender Visibility Day" for several years previous to Biden taking office. This year, that date just so happened to fall on Easter. And that is true; it started about 15 years ago or so, although it has mostly flown under the radar until this weekend. 

It's also true that this White House has recognized the day before now. In fact, the Biden team has issued a proclamation making March 31 the Transgender Day of Visibility each of its four years, starting in 2021. Again, none of these dates coincided with Easter until now, so no one paid much attention to it. 

That's why the White House is trying to push back on the idea that he created this year's Easter salute to transgenders. However this is not a case of the White House recognizing a widely embraced holiday -- such as Thanksgiving, independence Day, or especially Easter. Every administration offers some sort of acknowledgment of those well-known events. Biden and/or his comms team issued one for Easter yesterday, in fact, which I'll post in full to make a key distinction:

Jill and I send our warmest wishes to Christians around the world celebrating Easter Sunday. Easter reminds us of the power of hope and the promise of Christ’s Resurrection.

As we gather with loved ones, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice. We pray for one another and cherish the blessing of the dawn of new possibilities. And with wars and conflict taking a toll on innocent lives around the world, we renew our commitment to work for peace, security, and dignity for all people.

From our family to yours, happy Easter and may God bless you.

 First off, to give credit where due, the Biden message emphasizes the religious aspect of the day. However, let's point out what isn't included: a proclamation. Joe Biden didn't proclaim Sunday, March 31 to be Easter, because it didn't require any action to make it official. The statement simply recognizes the wide acceptance in Western Christianity of Easter on that date. (Just to remind people, the Eastern Orthodox churches will celebrate Easter on May 5 this year, and the White House will almost certainly issue a greeting for it too.)

How many people had even heard of "Transgender Visibility Day" before now? Darned few, which is why Biden has had to officially proclaim it every year. Biden and his team did that for its virtue-signaling value to progressives each of the last four years, taking credit for making it an official observation rather than just leave it in relative obscurity among trans activists. 

For those who argue that Biden didn't have any choice because activists set the date, that's also a bit of gaslighting. Biden could have just issued a friendly, supportive statement without a proclamation and avoided much if not all of the pushback. We know he can do that because that's precisely what Biden did with Easter! Alternately, Biden could have chosen Saturday or yesterday for the official White House observation of this activist rally point. There's nothing that required Biden to stick to March 31 except his desire to virtue-signal to his radical Left. 

The White House wants to eat its cake and have it too on this PR embarrassment. They want to pretend that Biden didn't officially proclaim yesterday as Transgender Visibility Day because someone else came up with the date, even while we have the clear statement of proclamation available. And at the same time, they want to give Biden credit for proclaiming an official day of observation, which only makes sense in the incompetent realm of Karine Jean-Pierre. 

So yes, Biden proclaimed this Easter to be the official observation of the "Transgender Day of Visibility," as the clear text of the statement shows. If Biden couldn't figure out that March 31 fell on Easter this year, that again speaks to incompetence; it more likely speaks to the rank dishonesty that has been Biden's hallmark for decades in Washington DC. 

Addendum: And let's also recall that the Biden administration (among others) also proclaims the entire month of June to be LGBTQI+ Pride Month. Why is it necessary to proclaim a separate day in March as an official observation for the same purpose?

The latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast is now up! Today's show features:

•  What did we learn from our dads? Andrew Malcolm and I trade some stories from our misbegotten youths, and discuss why dads seem to be the missing element in American culture. 
• We discuss Shakira and her take on 'Barbie,' the old-fashioned days when we could respect and admire presidents, and the need to embrace Psalm 146 verse 3 in politics.  
• We also briefly return to the NBC News meltdown over Ronna McDaniel, and how the media has suddenly forgotten everything it ever said about the Disney-DeSantis war ... now that Disney has surrendered.

The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at  Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!