President Joe Biden on Monday — amid the fanfare of the White House Easter Egg Roll at which the commander-in-chief instructed revelers to say "hi" to the "oyster bunnies" (yes really) — tried to claim he "didn't" declare Sunday Transgender Day of Visibility.
Biden: "Say hello to the Oyster Bunnies!" pic.twitter.com/xvNDoRVk6T
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) April 1, 2024
According to a White House pool report, Biden was asked to respond to House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) statement that it was "outrageous" for Easter Sunday to be proclaimed Transgender Day of Visibility. "He's thoroughly uninformed," the president said of Speaker Johnson.
When asked to clarify, Biden replied "I didn't do that."
"I didn’t do that," Biden said when asked about proclaiming Easter Sunday 'trans day of visibility." Asked about Speaker Johnson's claim otherwise, the president replied, "he’s thoroughly uninformed."
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) April 1, 2024
Some tried to explain Biden's quote by blaming the president's trademark confusion, suggesting Biden meant it wasn't him, personally, who established the last day of March as the date on which to celebrate supposedly otherwise invisible transgender individuals, but that ultimately doesn't matter.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre echoed Biden's false denial — as Katie reported on Monday — calling it "misinformation" for people to note that President Biden proclaimed Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday.
To believe Biden objected to observing such a date on Easter Sunday is absurd, as he proved the opposite by officially declaring Sunday as the date of commemoration and told transgender Americans "I see you" on X — in addition to a disparate Easter greeting — on Sunday.
Today, on Transgender Day of Visibility, I have a simple message to all trans Americans:
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 31, 2024
I see you.
You are made in the image of God, and you're worthy of respect and dignity. pic.twitter.com/ihvsJrXEyd
In Biden's official proclamation posted to the White House website, the president issued his "call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity" on March 31, Easter Sunday.
Biden says he "didn't do that," but the proclamation makes it pretty clear he did:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility.
The proclamation went even further, using typical divisive Democrat fear-mongering to falsely claim that "extremists are proposing hundreds of hateful laws that target and terrify transgender kids and their families — silencing teachers; banning books; and even threatening parents, doctors, and nurses with prison for helping parents get care for their children" that, according to Biden, "attack our most basic American values: the freedom to be yourself, the freedom to make your own health care decisions, and even the right to raise your own child."
Of course, this is not true. But that didn't stop Biden from proclaiming it anyway. Also untrue is Biden's claim that he "didn't" declare Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday. He did, as the White House website has memorialized for the ages.