Trump’s Unexpected Christmas Complaint Has People Asking Questions

Halloween is still more than a week away, but Donald Trump on Monday fired an unexpected salvo in the war on Christmas.
Toward the end of a speech in North Carolina, Trump began to hit on a litany of right-wing grievances. In the space of less than a minute, Trump attacked critical race theory, transgender youths and migrants.
And smack in the middle of that minute, he announced: “And we will proudly say, ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”
Trump and others on the right, especially on Fox News, have falsely insisted that Democrats are trying to do away with Christmas and trying to replace saying “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays.”
Eric Trump, a son of Donald Trump, made that argument on Monday with his own out-of-season Christmas message on Newsmax.
“You had a cognizant effort to get rid of the word ‘Christmas.’ I mean, they were calling it a ‘holiday tree’ during the Obama administration,” he lied. “It wasn’t until my father came in and said, ‘Listen, we’re gonna call it a Christmas tree because we celebrate Christmas as a nation.’”
“Merry Christmas” hasn’t gone anywhere, however.
The Obamas said “Merry Christmas” frequently. So have the Bidens. Vice President Kamala Harris has also said “Merry Christmas” plenty of times, including just last year in a holiday greeting on X, formerly Twitter.
The Trumps, on the other hand, have a decidedly mixed record on the holiday, with former first lady Melania Trump infamously caught on tape complaining about having to arrange the White House decorations.
“I’m working like a, my ass off at Christmas stuff,” she said in leaked recordings released by former friend and aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff in 2020. “You know, who gives a fuck about Christmas stuff and decoration, but I need to do it, right?”
Trump’s critics were puzzled by his premature Christmas message:
Donald Trump put the Christ back in Christmas but took the Christ out of Christianity.
That’s Halloween erasure. Not worthy to be president. https://t.co/m6o9seQXfJ
WE HAVE NEVER STOPPED saying Merry Christmas you unhinged clown. https://t.co/7Bldy5um0i
If there is anything Republicans have taught me over the years it’s that when they run out of material and invoke the war on Christmas it’s a sign that they know they are going to lose. https://t.co/ZyavsojuVV
IT’S NOT EVEN HALLOWEEN GRANDPA. TIME FOR YOUR PURÉED BIG MAC THEN RIGHT TO BED. YOU HAVE RAMBLING ON TRUTH SOCIAL SCHEDULED AT 2AM. #MAGA2024 https://t.co/kxLaSdOL3w
I lost my grandmother in 2011 to Obama’s war on Christmas. She was at Kroger late one night and didn’t realize he had three undercover agents working as stock boys. Said “Merry Christmas” to the checker and was arrested on site. She died in prison 4 months later. https://t.co/RhZgwNQuhk
🤔 https://t.co/UHU6VWhuWl pic.twitter.com/7usErlqqUy
This is some of the dumbest shit that Republicans peddle. I don’t believe in any God, and I still say Merry Christmas. https://t.co/avVY0crnSI
As a single-issue “Merry Christmas” voter, I’m relieved to hear this. https://t.co/ZNlDi9lBCp
They trot that one out every time they’re in trouble. Every time.
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What is he talking about??? We have never stopped saying Merry Christmas, including the millions of Christmas Cards sold every year, Christmas musicals, holiday shows, etc. that have always said the same!
😂#KamalaHarris2024 pic.twitter.com/37pQAtry1B