By The FirstRepublican presidential nominee Vivek Ramaswamy called for the elimination of Juneteenth on the campaign trail over the weekend; calling the holiday marking the end of slavery in America “useless.”
“Cancel Juneteenth or one of the other useless ones we made up,” Ramaswamy told an applauding crowd in Iowa.
He later clarified his remarks, saying the holiday is “redundant” and already honored on other days like Martin Luther King Jr Day and Presidents Day.
“The reason for making it a holiday was under political duress. It was a political hostage situation on the back of the death of George Floyd,” Ramaswamy said.
Watch Vivek’s comments above.