In an extremely rare walk-back last week, President Donald Trump moved the date of his big Tulsa campaign rally so that it would no longer fall on Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the end of slavery. Then, he undid any sliver of goodwill he may have received by claiming that he is responsible for making that 150-year-old holiday famous.
“While Trump had his mouth open anyway, a lot of other stupid stuff dribbled out,” Stephen Colbert said on The Late Show Thursday night before revealing the comments Trump made in a new interview with The Wall Street Journal. “Far from being ashamed” about the original scheduling decision, the host said, “Trump was proud of it.”
“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” the president said. “It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“In fact, I announced the rally that upset everyone on the tenth,” Colbert added as Trump. “So I’m starting a new holiday just for white people called Junetenth, celebrating the day they all learned about Juneteenth. You’re welcome.”
When a White House aide then reminded him that he had put out a statement marking the holiday last year, Trump replied, “Oh really? We put out a statement? The Trump White House put out a statement? OK, OK. Good.”
The host continued as the president, “Really? We put out a statement celebrating the end of slavery? Because that does not sound like me. You know how my ties are made, right?”
For more, listen and subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast.
