Two Ohio Republican state lawmakers want to designate June 14 as an annual state holiday honoring former President Donald Trump.
In a memo sent last week to members of the Ohio state House, GOP Reps. Jon Cross and Reggie Stoltzfus called on their colleagues to co-sponsor their bill, which looks to declare June 14 – Trump’s birthday – as “President Donald J. Trump Day.”
The pair wrote that Trump “against great odds, accomplished many things that have led our nation to unparalleled prosperity.”
“Let’s show the 3,154,834 Ohio voters (a record and historic number of votes received for President in Ohio) who cast their ballot to re-elect Donald J. Trump that we as a legislature recognize the accomplishments of his administration,” the memo reads, adding that “the Ohio House believes it is imperative we set aside a day to celebrate one of the greatest presidents in American history.”
Trump won the battleground state in the November presidential election and earned its 18 electoral votes, but ultimately fell short of the 270 needed to hold onto the presidency.
“We fell short in the election, but that doesn’t stop us from recognizing the good work President Trump has done,” Cross told CNN. “The least we can do is say thank you.”
Cross told CNN that he hopes to introduce the proposal as a bill in the state legislature this month. Stoltzfus did not respond to a request for comment.
Several other presidents have been commemorated by individual states. August 4 is Barack Obama Day in Illinois, the 44th president’s home state where the 44th President served in the Legislature and represented in the US Senate, and governors in at least 40 states have signed official proclamations recognizing February 6 as Ronald Reagan Day.
But June 14 is also a national holiday: Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the American flag in 1777 by the Continental Congress. One Democratic state representative, Jeff Crossman, told the Columbus Dispatch that “changing an existing federal holiday that honors the flag” is “disrespectful.”
Cross told CNN that the proposal doesn’t look to interfere with federal holidays, adding that commemorating a commander in chief on Flag Day would be “great for any president – they believe in our flag, which I thought was fitting.”
The proposal comes as Trump is gearing up for his second impeachment trial in the Senate over his actions leading up to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. California Democratic Rep. Lydia Sánchez has introduced legislation that looks to prohibit the use of federal funds to commemorate any president who’s been impeached twice in the House.
Trump is the only president so far to whom the bill would apply.
“I’m looking at his full body of work,” Cross said of Trump’s actions leading up to January 6, adding, “our country is better because of him.”
