Trump says he is ‘bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes’ even though the holiday never actually went away
- Donald Trump claimed that he would “return Columbus Day from Ashes” In a social media post. The holiday, however, has been a federal holiday since 1971.
Donald Trump said he would “bring back Columbus Day from Ashes,” but the holiday has never disappeared and has been a continuous federal holiday since 1971.
On a social media Post This weekend, Trump said he would “restore Columbus' day under the same rules, dates, and locations, as it has been with all the decades before.” He did not offer details or indicated exactly how he thought the holiday was gone.
Trump made the goal, in his post, in the backlash against Columbus that appeared in recent years as more people learned of explorer's characteristics lower than heroes, such as bringing illness, war and more than what would eventually be the US and the brutality of Native Americans.
That has led to a symbolic renumion of the day's name on indigenous days since 1992. Instead of focusing on Columbus, the sun was celebrated and honored indigenous Americans and commemorating their history and cultures. That alternate name was not recognized at a federal level until 2021, when a biden expression also identified the Columbus day of the Indigenous People's Day name, without changing the name at the federal level.
Human Day is an official holiday in 13 states and twelve cities, which will choose not to honor Columbus Day.
That's enough to embarrass Trump, however. On social media, he wrote “Democrats did everything to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all the Italians who loved him so much. They tore his statues, and nothing but 'woke up,' or even worse, nothing!”
This is not exactly the new land. In 2017, Trump revealed Columbus in a holiday statement, but did not mention the Native Americans.
Columbus Day 2025 will be celebrated on the second Monday in October, for over 50 years.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
