Donald Trump Claims He Made Juneteenth ‘Famous’ After Reportedly Being Told About It by Black Secret Service Agent

Donald Trump claims that he made Juneteenth “famous,” after it was reported that he was recently told about it by Black Secret Service Agent. According to The Guardian, Trump told an interviewer that this was how he learned of the holiday, which is held on June 19 in commemoration of the end of Slavery.

Now, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump says that it was him who “made Juneteenth very famous,” after he had previously scheduled a campaign rally for that day in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Coincidentally, Tulsa was the site of a 1921 massacre, where a White mob slaughtered Black residents, and torched Black-owned businesses. It is believed that as many as 300 people died. “I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” Trump went on to day in his interview. “It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.”

Regarding his now-postponed Tulsa rally, Trump tweeted out an explanation and rescheduled date in a series of tweets on June 12. “We had previously scheduled our #MAGA Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for June 19th – a big deal. Unfortunately, however, this would fall on the Juneteenth Holiday. Many of my African American friends and supporters have reached out to suggest that we consider changing the date out of respect for this Holiday, and in observance of this important occasion and all that it represents. I have therefore decided to move our rally to Saturday, June 20th, in order to honor their requests.”

Trump took heavy criticism for scheduling his campaign rally in Tulsa on Juneteenth while the nation has been facing a wave of civil unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd on May 25. Floyd was a Black man who died after a White police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. This ignited Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests across the United States. On Tuesday, Trump signed an new executive order on policing, which prioritizes grants to police departments to certify that they meet certain standards. Among them is a ban on chokeholds, except in the event that an officer’s life is at risk.