Lawmakers, governors and members of the Biden administration celebrated two very different holidays on Monday, with Democrats tending to favor Indigenous People’s Day while Republicans mostly stuck with the older Columbus Day.
Political figures took to Twitter on Monday, pushing different reasons for the day’s significance.
Many Democrats, including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) expressed support for the newer holiday.
“On #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we celebrate the contributions, the extraordinary resilience, and the rich cultures of tribal nations and Native communities. Today and every day, the federal government must recommit itself to honoring its promises to Native peoples,” Warren said.
Vice President Harris and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary, honored the occasion as a day of respect for indigenous communities.
“Today and every day, let us continue to celebrate and uplift the rich contributions of Indigenous peoples—their leadership has made our country stronger,” Harris wrote in a tweet.
In a video posted to Twitter, Haaland cited the Biden administration’s work as a promise of a better future for indigenous communities.
Democrats also sought to bring awareness to the dark side of colonialism and its disregard for the trauma suffered by native peoples.
“On #IndigenousPeoplesDay, let us pause to remember the exploitation and genocide of Native and Indigenous communities borne out of our nation’s ‘discovery,'” tweeted Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).
“We must learn from this dark chapter of our history—and never stop working to right this wrong that is still felt today,” she added.
Members of the GOP, including Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.), mostly shared messages of holiday greetings hailing explorer Christopher Columbus.
“Thank you Christopher Columbus for dreaming big and helping discover the Americas,” tweeted Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).
Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for New York governor, praised the holiday as a “source of great pride for the Italian American community to honor one of their own.”
Some, including House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), shared more pointed messages condemning the “woke” left on Twitter.
“I am proud to stand up against the Far Left woke mob attempting to cancel history! #SaveColumbusDay,” she wrote.
