NBA star Jonathan Isaac criticized President Joe Biden over naming Sunday “Transgender Day of Visibility” on Easter Sunday, saying that the White House “know[s] exactly what they are doing.”
“They want you to hate! This helps no one and only promotes division,” he wrote. “They know exactly what they are doing.. we should be angry but shouldn’t lose the spirit of what tomorrow means! Don’t lose focus. Because He is risen there is hope for all.”
Isaac joined many other big figures in their disappointment with Biden. Trump’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, called the move “appalling and insulting.”
“We call on Joe Biden’s failing campaign and the White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe (Sunday) is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” she said.
“The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” House Speaker Mike Johnson posted on X. “Banning sacred truth and tradition—while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as ‘Transgender Day’—is outrageous and abhorrent. The American people are taking note.”
Isaac garnered widespread attention and scrutiny in 2020 when he chose to stand for the national anthem before games, even as every other member of his team knelt while wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts.
Isaac said at the time that to kneel would have been to throw support behind a movement that could not ultimately heal the nation’s growing racial divide, or any other fundamental human problem.
“Around that time, my pastor had preached a message,” Isaac said. “The message was about when Jesus was about to be taken by the Roman Guard, and Peter lunged forward and chopped off the man’s ear, and Jesus stopped him, and he said, ‘Those that live by the sword, will die by the sword.’ And, ultimately that Jesus had a greater plan.”
“So, I decided to stand,” he went on to say, “It wasn’t entirely about the flag. It was just that moment of saying, ‘I believe that the love of Jesus Christ is what is ultimately going to heal this world because it is what has healed me.’”