Juneteenth Has Been Celebrated for Over a Century
The Claim
Former President Donald Trump made Juneteenth famous.
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Emerging story
In June 2020, then-President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal: “I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous,” after scheduling a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma – home to the Tulsa race massacre – on June 19.
In June 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday. This, along with the publication of a Politico article about Trump’s post-George Floyd month, led social media users to recirculate Trump’s claim.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that Trump doubled down on his claim about Juneteenth, telling reporter Michael C. Bender that “nobody had heard of” Juneteenth until he made it famous – despite his own administration putting out statements commemorating the event every year he was in office.
However, Juneteenth has been celebrated for over a century. On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger read General Order Number 3 in Galveston Island, Texas: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
Although President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1862, Confederate states did not enforce it for several years. Slavery was officially abolished when the 13th Amendment was ratified in December 1865.
The first known Juneteenth celebration took place in Texas in 1866. A May 2021 Gallup poll indicates that most American adults, and particularly Black Americans, are familiar with the meaning of Juneteenth. Older Republicans are the least familiar with the significance of the event; 45% of all Republicans polled said that they know “nothing at all” about it.
Since Juneteenth has been well-known to many Americans since its inception, it cannot be said that Trump made the holiday famous. However, Google Trends analytics show that the highest interest in the term “Juneteenth” did take place after Trump’s proclamation.
Because of this, we rate the claim as misleading.
