Minnesota GOP Rep. Tom Emmer blasted President Joe Biden on social media over the weekend, claiming he declared Easter Sunday as "Transgender Day of Visibility" — which happened to fall on the same day this year — while also falsely saying he was "banning children from using religious symbols for a White House Easter egg art contest."
The House Majority Whip posted the criticism on X over the weekend and doubled down on the claim in tweets this week from his campaign account, sharing a Fox News article in which House Speaker Mike Johnson questioned whether Biden "knew what he was signing" with his proclamation.
"It's sad, yet disturbing, that it's entirely possible @JoeBiden forgot or didn't realize he was declaring Easter Sunday as 'Transgender Visibility Awareness Day,'" Emmer wrote.
He joined other prominent Republicans in criticizing the move as an attack on Easter. Emmer is serving as the Minnesota chair of Donald Trump's presidential campaign this year. His office didn't respond to a request for comment.
While Biden did issue a proclamation on Sunday to mark "Transgender Day of Visibility," it was because the annual March 31 celebration date happened to land on the same day as Easter this year. The date of the Christian holiday changes each year, falling on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the spring equinox.
International Transgender Day of Visibility has been held annually on March 31 since 2009. Biden has marked the day on March 31 every year since he became president.
Biden, who is the United States' second Catholic president, posted on X separately to mark both occasions, saying millions of transgender and nonbinary Americans "should be treated with dignity and respect." He also wished a Happy Easter to Americans gathering in churches and homes around the country.
Republicans, including Emmer, also said Biden had newly prohibited children from using religious symbols in the annual White House Easter egg decorating contest. Emmer repeated that claim in a post on Monday, citing a Daily Caller article that has since been retracted.
The American Egg Board, which has partnered with the White House to put on the contest for nearly five decades, has refuted this claim, noting that federal guidelines prohibit them from being favorable to any religion in the event. That's been the case for years, including during the Trump administration.
"The Egg Board and other commodity boards are prohibited from discriminating in all programming and activities on the basis of religion, political beliefs and all other stated categories," Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, said in a statement to the Washington Post.
