What is Juneteenth?

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Over the past few years, you might have heard talk about the new holiday, "Juneteenth" and wondered what it is and why you are only just hearing about it. You are not the only one. Despite the holiday's historic roots, it has only recently reemerged into the mainstream. Here is what you need to know to catch up.

What is Juneteenth?

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Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, or Jubilee Day is a celebration of the end of slavery within former Confederate territory after Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 with a force of approximately 1,800 men and issued an order that enforced the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued January 1st, 1863, upon the deepest regions of the South.

When is Juneteenth?

Major General Gordon Granger

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Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th, the anniversary of Major General Granger's arrival in Galveston. It is important to note that while June 19th, 1865 marks the end of slavery in the former Confederate Territories, slave states that were loyal to the Union maintained slavery until the 13th amendment was ratified on December 6th, 1865, officially ending slavery within the United States.

Is Juneteenth a federal holiday?

President Biden speaks with Opal Lee, known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, after signing in Juneteenth as a federal holiday.

Drew Angerer / Staff

Juneteenth became the newest federal holiday as of June of 2021, signed in by President Biden. The last federal holiday to be passed before Juneteenth was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was passed under the Regan administration in 1983.

What is it's modern significance?

Probal Rashid / Contributor

Juneteenth has been called the "2nd Independence Day" and it represents and celebrates the end of slavery within the United States (despite slavery not actually ending on June 19th). It marks the joy of emancipation and the beginning of a new life for those who found freedom on and around June 19th, 1865. Celebrations on or around June 19th have been going on since the post-war reconstruction era, with rises and falls in popularity throughout the years.

How is it celebrated?

The Washington Post / Contributor

Much like Independence Day, Juneteenth is a barbecue holiday, often involving outdoor family gatherings, lots of food, and summer festivities. The color red plays an important role, often red clothes are worn, and red food and drinks, like Hibiscus tea, red beans and rice, and red velvet cake.

TOP THREE craziest leftist reactions to Trump's McDonald's visit

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Over the weekend, President Trump visited a McDonald's in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to serve up some french fries to hungry supporters.

MAGA fans from across the country came to celebrate and support Trump, quickly swamping the small town with a tide of Trump merch. With a roaring crowd outside, Trump cooked up some crispy fries and served them to a small selection of supporters through the drive-thru window, creating a light-hearted, fun momenta pleasant break from the turbulent election cycle.

Naturally, the Left quickly swooped in to rain on Trump's parade. From unsubstantiated fact-checks to overused insults, here are the craziest reactions to Trump's McDonald's trip:

Fact check on Donald Trump's claims about Kamala Harris

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While working his brief 15-minute shift, Donald Trump quipped that he's now worked at McDonald's longer than Kamala Harris, referencing the Vice President's unsubstantiated claim that she worked at McDonald's one summer during college. McDonald's further substantiated Trump's claim by indicating that there are no existing records of Harris's employment, though they admit that records from the pre-digital age may not have survived to the present day.

Despite the lack of evidence, left-wing media outlets, such as the Washington Post, were quick to defend the Vice President. Their argument essentially put Trump's word against Harris's, suggesting that Trump was deliberately lying to defame the Vice President, while simultaneously treating Harris as a more credible source.

Pointing out the obvious fact that this was a political stunt

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In what is likely the least informative journalistic piece of the century, MSNBC made the "shocking discovery" that Donald Trump didn't actually work at McDonald's and that the entire event was for his campaign. It's unclear what detail gave this away to the "ever-vigilant" reporters at MSNBC. Maybe it was the fact that McDonald's was closed for the event, or the lack of employees within the restaurant, or possibly it was the crowd of cheering fans outside. Thank you captain obvious, the event was a carefully coordinated and secure political event. The former President who has had several assassination attempts on his life did notwork in an unsecured restaurant, dealing with countless unknown people.

Truly "top-notch" reporting by MSNBC.

Calling Trump supporters "weird"... Again.

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The New York Times had to really scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with something to paint Trump's fast food fiesta in a negative light. Instead of attacking Trump, they went after his supporters who lined the street to cheer on their favorite presidential nominee. They went so far as to describe the event as a violent riot full of unhinged and uneducated fanatics. The New York Times even quoted a pro-Harris protester who showed up to the event and suggested that "Jan. 6 was maybe a trial run ... and now they’re a lot more organized — and a lot angrier.” The insults didn't stop there. They dredged up the archaic and cringeworthy Tim Walz original calling the Trump supporters "weird." This "zinger" doesn't have the punch the New York Times wanted it to have, and came across as a sad attempt to bring Trump down in one of his high points in his campaign.

RIGGED: Kamala Harris attempts to sway Fox interview in her favor, STILL falls short

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The election is mere weeks away and Kamala Harris just had her first adversarial interview since she began campaigning.

Last week, Harris sat down with Fox News journalist Bret Baier for an interview plagued with difficulties from the beginning. As Glenn recently pointed out, it seemed like Harris had done her best to ensure the interview was intentionally rigged against Baier. Despite being in front of Baier's diverse audience, she did not seem too interested in taking the opportunity to sell herself to a new demographic. Instead, Glenn hypothesized she was just after a quick soundbite to pander to her faltering core supporters.

However, the interview blew up in Kamala's face, and the American people took notice. Here's a rundown of Kamala's first Fox interview:

Rigged Interview

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Harris and her team did everything possible to throw Bret Baier off his game and derail the interview in her favor. It started when Harris's team informed Fox that the interview, which was originally supposed to be an hour, would be cut in half. This left Baier scrambling to reformat his interview to better fit the new time requirement. Then Harris arrived at the interview ten minutes late, further shorting the interview.

The purpose behind Harris's tardiness became apparent during the interview. Every time Baier asked a question, Harris would launch into a lengthy word salad. Baier was forced to interject just so he was able to ask more than a couple of questions. Harris even pushed back, calling out Baier's interruptions, which of course, just wasted more time. Clearly, Harris or her staff realized that she could not sustain a hostile interview for any extended period, which is why Harris tried to filibuster away as much of the interview as possible.

When the brief interview was nearing the end of its allotted time, Harris's staff began signaling to Baier to end the interview. Despite the change in plans and late arrival, her staff was determined to end the interview as quickly as possible.

Harris's Agenda

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From the beginning of the interview, Harris was hostile. She was immediately adversarial and would spin every question into a criticism of Trump, no matter how pointed Baier's question was. Several times Harris had emotional outbursts, spewing classic anti-Trump rhetoric, regardless of its relevance to the question asked. Glenn pointed out that this was the reason Harris took this interview. Recently, many of her core supporters have been faltering as her sudden burst of televised appearances has revealed her paper-thin platform. She took this interview to get a good clip of her passionately bashing Trump on Fox News. This would bolster her core demographic, which she desperately needs.

Harris's Fumbles

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Despite her best efforts to sway the interview in her favor, Baier still managed to pin Harris several times. Harris kept dodging tough questions Baier threw her way with the same tactic: she would promise to "follow the law" then deflect the question back on Trump. One of the more memorable instances of Harris's evasion strategy was when she was questioned if she supported prison inmates having access to taxpayer-funded transgender surgery. Harris insisted she would "follow the law" and then explained that Trump had followed the same law while he was in office. This response was, in essence, a non-answer. Harris was ignoring the obvious fact that as President, she would influence what the law would be and how it is enforced.

Harris's other major blunder occurred after Baier asked her how her presidency would differ from Biden's and how she would "turn the page" on our current situation. In classic Harris fashion, she immediately deflects on Trump, framing our current situation as somehow a byproduct of Trump simply existing within the political sphere. This convoluted web she spun was so twisted that Harris herself lost track of what she was saying gave up, telling Baier, "You know what I'm talking about." Baier admitted he was just as lost as she was, and she simply went back to attacking Trump.

POLL: Are your kids eating POISON?!

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More Americans than ever are sick, life expectancy is falling, and our children are in rough shape... What happened!?!

In his newest TV special, Glenn delves into the toxic garbage that the FDA allows to be put into our food and the devastating effects it has on our bodies. The stats are staggering: nearly one-third of all Americans have at least one chronic disease, almost40 percent of school-aged kids have a chronic disease, and U.S. life expectancy is at a 20-year low and is still plummeting. Not to mention the skyrocketing rates of ADHD and Autism diagnoses in our children.

Why does the FDA allow our food to be poisoned? Glenn unveils that the FDA is owned by the monopolistic food manufacturers that put the products in the food and by Big Pharma which sells the cure. In fact, 46 percent of the FDA's budget is paid for by food manufacturers, and a whopping 6,500 FDA jobs are funded by Big Pharma. On top of that, it's up to the food manufacturers to run tests, gather data about the safety of their food, and present it to the FDA. Seems like a conflict of interest, don't you think?

Glenn wants to know what you think. Do you/your kids eat foods with toxic ingredients such as artificial food dyes? Do you trust the FDA to keep your food safe? Can the system be fixed? Let us know in the poll below:

Do you/your kids eat foods with toxic ingredients such as artificial food dyes?

Do you trust the FDA to keep your food safe?

Could Trump/RFK Jr. fix/replace the FDA?

Can Trump win THESE critical swing states?

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The election is less than three weeks away! And if you are in a state with early voting, it may be even sooner than that!

Like most elections, the 2024 election victor will be determined largely by whichever candidate can win the most swing states, i.e. states that are nearly split 50/50 Democrat and Republican. If Trump is to win the election, he has to win a majority of the seven swing states, which are: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

In order to keep you informed on how Trump is polling in these seven states, how he did against Biden in 2020 and what issues are important to the voters of each of the states, we compiled the relevant information for your convenance below:

Arizona

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In 2020 Trump lost Arizona to Biden by just over 10,000 votes, or 0.4 percent of the state.

The border state is up in the air again for 2024 and unsurprisingly immigration and border security is the top issue for voters. After border security, long-term water supplies and education rank at the top of Arizona voter's concerns, with inflation and cost of living coming in at number four.

Polls currently place President Trump ahead of Kamala with 48.4 percent of the votes compared to her 46.8 percent.

Georgia

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In 2020, Trump lost Georgia to Biden by just over 10,000 votes, or 0.3 percent of the state.

Georgia voters are most concerned with abortion access (for or against), followed by environment, climate change, and the economy.

Polls currently place President Trump ahead of Kamala with 48.7 percent of the votes compared to her 47 percent.

Michigan

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In 2020 Trump lost Michigan to Biden by approximately 150,000 votes, or 2.8 percent of the state.

In Michigan, like many Americans, voters are most concerned by the economy. The economy is trailed by renewable energy and abortion as top issues for Michigan voters this election.

Polls currently place Kamala Harris ahead of Trump with 47.7 percent of the votes compared to his 46.9 percent.

Nevada

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In 2020 Trump lost Nevada to Biden by approximately 30,000 votes, or 2.4 percent of the state.

In Nevada, the top issue is for voters is the economy, which is followed by affordable housing. Following affordable housing, immigration ranks high among concerns of Nevada voters along with democracy and crime.

Polls currently place Kamala Harris ahead of Trump with 47.8 percent of the votes compared to his 47 percent.

North Carolina

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In 2020 Trump won North Carolina against Biden by over 70,000 votes, or 1.4 percent of the state.

Like in many other state, the economy is the leading issue among voters. The economy and inflation is followed by abortion rights and illegal immigration in top concerns for North Caroling voters.

Polls currently place Donald Trump leading Kamala with 48 percent of the votes compared to her 47.6 percent.

Pennsylvania

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In 2020 Trump lost Pennsylvania to Biden by approximately 80,000 votes, or 1.2 percent of the state.

The people of Pennsylvania are the most concerned with jobs, wages and the economy. Behind the economy, Pennsylvanians are most concerned with the future of democracy, immigration, and gun policy.

Polls currently place Kamala leading Trump with 48.1 percent of the votes compared to his 47.4 percent.

Wisconsin

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In 2020 Trump lost Wisconsin to Biden by approximately 40,000 votes, or 0.7 percent of the state.

The primary concern of voters in Wisconsin is the current high cost of living. Behind the cost of living, healthcare and education are high among the concerns of Wisconsinites, with the economy as a whole coming in fourth.

Polls currently place Kamala leading Trump with 48.1 percent of the votes compared to his 47.5 percent.