- This week, in honor of Juneteenth, actor and activist George Clooney donated $500,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative, which works to end mass incarceration and challenge race and economic injustice.
- In a statement released in conjunction with the donation, Clooney sarcastically "thanked" Donald Trump for "making Juneteenth famous."
- Clooney's statement references claims Trump made in a recent interview in which he took credit for making people aware of the longstanding, widely-celebrated holiday.
George Clooney issued a perfect callout to Donald Trump while also giving money to an amazing organization in honor of Juneteenth.
The actor donated $500,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative this week in honor of the longstanding holiday, also known as Jubilee Day or Freedom Day, which marks the official end of slavery in the United States, which finally happened on June 19, 1865.
"Thank you President Trump for 'making Juneteenth famous.' Much like when Bull Connor made 'Civil Rights' famous," Clooney said in a statement to People about the donation. "My family will be donating 500 thousand dollars to the Equal Justice Initiative in honor of your heroic efforts."
The sarcastic statement compares Trump to Bull Connor, a politician in Alabama who infamously opposed the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Connor was serving as Birmingham's Commissioner of Public Safety in 1961 when the Freedom Riders came to the city and was known as an "ultra-segregationist" with ties to the KKK.
Clooney's statement is in reference to claims Trump made during a recent interview about his self-perceived role in raising awareness for the holiday.
"I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous," he told the Wall Street Journal. "It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it."
Activists (and people with a basic awareness of American history) understandably took issue with the claims, since Juneteenth has been widely celebrated and recognized for years. The holiday has been informally celebrated since 1865 and is currently recognized as a state holiday in 46 states. It's also on its way to becoming a national holiday. Last year, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution recognizing "Juneteenth Independence Day" as a national holiday, although it has yet to be approved in the House.
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