President Donald Trump has declared next Monday as Loyalty Day, writing in a presidential proclamation that it shall be a day that “we recognize and reaffirm our allegiance to the principles upon which our nation is built.”
–@POTUS proclaims May 1 as “Loyalty Day.” pic.twitter.com/9W9D7myesJ
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) April 28, 2017
Almost immediately, Twitter went to work on the concept of loyalty and what it means to Trump.
They said ‘Loyalty Day’ is to uphold ‘the inherent dignity of every human being’-a few days after launching a hotline for ‘removable aliens’ https://t.co/UBtnKXfANI
— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) April 29, 2017
“Loyalty Day!?”
— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) April 29, 2017
*THINKS LOYALTY DAY IS STUPID*
*REALIZES IT COULD MEAN AN EXTRA DAY OFF*
“I love Loyalty Day!!!!”
Celebrate this #LoyaltyDay by pledging allegiance to Mother Russia 🇷🇺 #RussiAmerica
— 🏳️⚧️GirlJosh75 Bluesky arc🖤🐘🤍💜 (@JoshuaCaleb75) April 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/SneakThiefMeow/status/858321433361076224
But before those who oppose Trump get into too much of a huff, realize this: Loyalty Day has been around for six decades.
As the Nation points out, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first to declare a Loyalty Day, and it’s been celebrated by everybody from JFK to Ronald Reagan and from Nixon to Obama. As the Los Angeles Times wrote, it was first known as Americanization Day in 1921, and “it arose in response to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and growing radicalism in a swelling U.S. labor movement.”
So, Trump isn’t exactly treading on new ground.
“Loyalty Day” wasn’t started by Trump. It was first observed in 1921 as a red scare tactic in response to International Workers’ Day. https://t.co/SVned1Qzuq
— ✪𝓙𝓪𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓢𝓪𝓲𝓷𝓽-𝓕𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓬✪ (@sirjamesa12) April 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/elektrosoundwav/status/858178015360163840
https://twitter.com/gholson/status/858188066162429952
But that doesn’t mean some people can’t see the irony of Trump celebrating the concept of loyalty.
Married 3 times, cheated on the first two, used to be a democrat…guys the irony is burning a huge hole in my face. https://t.co/7n95Ql1kfB
— Scott Johnson (@scottjohnson) April 29, 2017
