Unless you've been hiding under a rock last weekend (and if you were, you really should be happy all things considered), then you've heard of the latest right-wing moral panic. To recap - Trans Day of Visibility has been commemorated on March 31 every year since 2009. This particular year, it fell on the same day as the Easter holiday. Easter changes dates every year, so it's never on the same calendar day.
However, when have the religious right, Republicans and various conservatives ever let a small detail like "truth" interfere with their rage farming stunts. And this one was a doozy. In what was implied to be to have been a coordinated attempt, various tweets from Republicans and conservative figures, various right-wing news articles, various right-wing blogs, and various far-right religious entities all attacked President Biden for supposedly making a mockery of "Easter." They claimed that he was deliberately insulting Christians.
Even Trump, demanded that Biden apologize. Unfortunately, in light of Trump's recent attempt to sell of $60 Bibles (and the fact that this is Donald Trump in general), the adage about someone being so brazen that lightning strikes them, thereby causing said person to fall into hell and "bust it wide open" didn't prove true.
However, many of us on the left and mainstream (including various fact-checkers) didn't back down from calling out the lies about Easter and Trans Day of Visibility. Most important, neither did the Biden Administration. It issued no apologies. Instead, via White House Press Secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre, the Biden Administration called out the fake outrage.
From Mediaite:
“So, surprised by the misinformation that’s been out there around this and I want to be very clear,” Jean-Pierre said, “Every year for the past several years on March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility is marked. And, as we know, for folks who understand the calendar and how it works, Easter falls on different Sundays, right? Every year. And this year, it happens to coincide with Transgender Visibility Day.”
She continued: We were, at first, I want to be very clear, confused on their coverage. 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.” “A lot of misinformation done on purpose,”
Jean-Pierre continued. “And, as a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together, and upholding the freedoms and dignity of every American.” She added, “It is dishonest what we have heard the past 24 hours. It is untrue what we heard over the weekend.” She called the misinformation “dividing.”
You can watch a video of her comments via Forbes Breaking News:
