Charlie Kirk Pummeled for Calling Juneteenth An ‘Affront’ to Independence Day: ‘How Are You So Racist You Don’t Want an Extra Day Off?’
Charlie Kirk #CharlieKirk
Turning Point USA chief Charlie Kirk is getting raked over the coals for claiming that Juneteenth as a federal holiday is an ideological “affront” to the Fourth of July.
In recent years, the country has seen an uptick in conversations about Juneteenth, the day held to celebrate the end of slavery in the United States. Congress held an overwhelming bipartisan vote this week to make it an official federal holiday, and President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law on Thursday.
Of course, the bill encountered some opposition. Fourteen House Republicans voted against the Juneteenth legislation — and Fox News host Tucker Carlson, in his argument against, billed Juneteenth as “a new independence day to supplant the old one.”
Kirk evidently agrees with that, because he took to Twitter to say “Juneteenth is an affront to the unity of July 4th. We now have 2 summer holidays — and one of them based on race. Shame on the GOP for supporting this.”
He stood by his argument, adding later that Juneteenth is about replacing Independence Day as opposed to commemorating emancipation:
As it were, a bipartisan mix of political observers slammed Kirk for his comments. Justin Amash, for one, noted that they fly in the face of comments made by Kirk just last year.
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