Trump declares Election Day ‘Christian Visibility Day’ as right-wing continues to peddle misinformation

Donald Trump has promised his Christian followers that election day on 5 November will serve as “Christian Visibility Day”, predicting it will be an occasion “when Christians turn out in numbers that nobody has ever seen before” to vote him back into the White House.

The Republican presidential contender was speaking at a rally at the Hyatt Regency in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday evening when he made the remark, an allusion to the spurious outrage among Republicans caused by Trans Visibility Day happening to coincide with Easter Sunday this year.

Properly known as International Transgender Day of Visibility but often shortened to Trans Visibility Day, the date to recognise members of America’s transgender community was founded by Michigan-based activist Rachel Crandall in 2009 and has taken place on 31 March every year since.

In 2024, due to a quirk caused by the spring equinox, Easter Sunday fell on the same date. The coincidence was embraced by President Joe Biden, who said on Good Friday: “On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honour the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect union – where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives.

“I am proud that my administration has stood for justice from the start, working to ensure that the LGBTQI+ community can live openly, in safety, with dignity and respect.”

The president’s gesture led Mr Trump’s campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt to falsely accuse him of “formally proclaiming” the national day, actually celebrating its 15th anniversary, over the Easter weekend as a calculated insult to Christians, despite Mr Biden himself being a devout Roman