President Joe Biden and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of his top potential Republican rivals for re-election next year, are both scheduled to visit Northern California on June 19th, according to travel schedules obtained by The Mercury News.
This coincidence has sparked numerous reactions, with Larry Gerston, a political science professor emeritus at San Jose State University, stating that he would be surprised if either politician intentionally planned their trips to coincide with each other.
It is unclear what events President Biden will be attending in the Bay Area on June 19th, but he and First Lady Biden will be hosting a Juneteenth concert at the White House in advance on June 13th before arriving in Northern California for the official holiday, as noted by AP News. Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, and it was officially made a holiday by President Biden himself.
In contrast, Governor DeSantis will be attending a $3,300-a-head breakfast hosted by GOP supporters in Sacramento. Gov. DeSantis has been criticized in the past for his handling of the Juneteenth public holiday. In 2020, the ACLU of Florida published an article that asserts that choosing Juneteenth as a date for political maneuvers may not be the right way to honor the holiday, after they allege that Florida's governor did just that..
In recent news, Californian politicians have lashed out at DeSantis for engaging in possible political tactics aimed at garnering support from primary voters at the expense of general election voters, as evidenced by his alleged migrant flights to Sacramento, events that Cal Matters wrote about at length. However, it's important to note that Juneteenth, now a federal holiday, signed into law by Biden two years ago, should be a time for unity, celebration, and remembrance rather than divisive political strategies.
