This past week witnessed two no-brainer votes in Congress: 1) establishing Juneteenth—a commemoration of emancipation—as a federal holiday; and 2) awarding the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor that Congress bestows, to all the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on January 6th. Fortunately, both measures passed overwhelmingly, the only opposition coming from “Trump Republicans”, 21 voting against the Gold Medal and 14 voting against the Juneteenth holiday. Although they represent a relatively small percentage of the 435 total members, these ardent Trump supporters—most of them would like to see Trump “reinstated” as president— are good examples of the growing denial of reality (e.g., the insurrectionists were like any group of tourists) and persistent racism (e.g., Juneteenth is nothing but a celebration of identity politics and Critical Race Theory) harbored by this group.
If you want to know who the worst “Trump Republicans” are at a glance, I suggest you take a look at the following, paying special attention to who voted against BOTH bills—the honor roll, if you will, the very worst of the worst!
| House Member | Voted Against Gold Medal | Voted Against Juneteenth Holiday |
| Andy Biggs (AZ) | X | X |
| Lauren Boebert (CO) | X | |
| Mo Brooks (AL) | X | |
| Michael Cloud (TX) | X | |
| Andrew Clyde (GA) | X | X |
| Warren Davidson (OH) | X | |
| Scott DesJarlais (TN) | X | |
| Matt Gaetz (FL) | X | |
| Louie Gohmert (TX) | X | |
| Bob Good (VA) | X | |
| Paul Gosar (AZ) | X | X |
| Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) | X | |
| Andy Harris (MD) | X | |
| Jody Hice (GA) | X | |
| Ronny Jackson (TX) | X | |
| Doug LaMalfa (CA) | X | |
| Tom McClintock (CA) | X | |
| Thomas Massie (KY) | X | X |
| Mary Miller (IL) | X | |
| Barry Moore (AL) | X | |
| Ralph Norman (SC) | X | X |
| Scott Perry (PA) | X | |
| Mike D. Rogers (AL) | X | |
| John Rose (TN) | X | |
| Matt Rosendale (MT) | X | X |
| Chip Roy (TX) | X | X |
| Greg Steube (FL) | X | |
| Tom Tiffany (WI) | X |
So there you have them, the worst of the worst: Andy Biggs (AZ); Andrew Clyde (GA); Paul Gosar (AZ); Ralph Norman (SC); Matt Rosendale (MT); Chip Roy (TX). This approach may not be very scientific, but given most of these dudes (notice there are no women among them) and their constituents reject science anyway, it only seems fitting.
What’s downright amazing is that such Trump-inspired windbags as Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Green didn’t vote against the Juneteenth bill and thus didn’t make the final list. Even more remarkable, such stalwart Trumpies as Jim Jordan (OH) and Madison Cawthorn (NC) didn’t vote against either bill, so kudos to them, as much as I hate to say it. Indeed, the seven congressmen cited above have really earned being called the worst of the worst.
Holidays are Cheap Compared to the Real Work that Needs to be Done.
One point I want to make before leaving the subject of Juneteenth: while I surely celebrate all it stands for—emancipation, freedom, and an acknowledgement of our country’s racist past—it is no substitute for the work that needs to be done to bring about equality for African Americans and other people of color. Holidays come relatively cheap and easy, but the real solutions remain a challenge. As Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia said, “I hope we would not cash in substantive change for an opportunity to commemorate. . . commemoration ought to drive change and not be a substitute for change.”