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Donald Trump has declared that he’s “bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes” - despite it never being canceled in the first place.
Trump’s remarks came as he sought to distinguish himself from his predecessor Joe Biden, the first president to formally acknowledge Indigenous Peoples Day in 2021, an alternative to the annual celebration of 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus.
The Republican has accused Democrats of desecrating the explorers’ legacy as he doubled down on his pledge to restore the credibility of historical American figures, claimed to have been “cancelled” in recent years after protests.
“The Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all of the Italians that love him so much”, Trump stated in a Truth Social post Sunday.
“They tore down his Statues, and put up nothing but ‘WOKE,’ or even worse, nothing at all!
“Well, you’ll be happy to know, Christopher is going to make a major comeback. I am hereby reinstating Columbus Day under the same rules, dates, and locations, as it has had for all of the many decades before!”, he said in a tirade.
However, Biden did not rename or remove Columbus Day and it is still marked every year in October. His comments rather came amid ongoing debate about which figures from U.S. history should be celebrated, and recognition of the erasure of indigenous people that came with Columbus’s arrival.
In the summer of 2020, when Black Lives Matter rioters lined the streets in response to the death of George Floyd, dozens of Columbus statues were vandalized and torn down. Months later, the remaining effigies began to be removed by lawmakers after several cities voted to boycott Columbus.
In 2021 Biden said: “On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor America’s first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today. I encourage everyone to celebrate and recognize the many Indigenous communities and cultures that make up our great country. “
English (US) ·