Donald Trump's Rant On June 19th Was Ridiculous (And Racist)!

On June 19th, Trump continued his war against nonwhites in this country. Instead of noting the importance of the holiday marking the end of slavery in this country, Trump inferred that it should not even be a holiday. That was ridiculous - and racist!

Here is part of Helaine Olen's response on MSNBC:

On Thursday evening, the night of Juneteenth, Donald Trump took to Truth Social with a classic “old man yells at cloud” complaint: Americans get too much time off work. . . .

The president is wrong. We need more holidays, not fewer, and we need more time off in general.

That Trump is complaining at all is odd given that during the 2020 campaign, he promised to make Juneteenth a holiday. And he never seems to have a problem taking time off work to play golf at taxpayers’ expense. He has now decided — on a day that celebrates the end of slavery no less — that Americans need to work harder.

True, Trump did not mention Juneteenth in his online rant, but the timing could not be clearer. And it comes as his administration has cracked down on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, targeting universities and federal departments alike, and stopped official celebrations of holidays like Juneteenth and remembrances like Holocaust Remembrance Day and Women’s Equality Day.

We do not have too many federal holidays in the United States; we have, if anything, slightly fewer than many other OECD countries. And the U.S. is alone among its peer countries in not mandating even one paid day off work for workers. That includes not just vacation but federal holidays like Christmas, July 4 and Juneteenth. There’s evidence that Americans now take less vacation from work — not more — than they did as recently as 25 years ago.

We are, contrary to Trump’s assertion, the most overworked nation in the developed world. Surveys regularly show many of us do not take all our vacation time. Higher-paid workers say they fear falling behind on the job, while lower-paid ones say they fear getting the ax if they take too many personal days. . . .

Studies show that vacations — even just a long weekend or an occasional personal day — not only enhance mental and physicalhealth, they improve worker productivity and help combat burnout. Employers, even if they don’t always want to admit it, benefit from our paid time away from the job. We can’t live to work. We need time to recharge our batteries, to take a break and smell the roses.

In a world where many Americans won’t use all their vacation time, paid official holidays are even more important. But, again, employers are not required to give them. No private-sector employer was forced to close their doors for Juneteenth. . . .

To be clear, Juneteenth should be a holiday regardless of Americans’ workload. Slavery is the greatest moral shame of the United States, and we should commemorate its end. But not only does slavery’s end deserve celebration, there are many more reasons for Americans to have many more days off. It’s a shame Trump can’t see that.