MSNBC Guest Calls on U.S. to Cancel Presidents’ Day — Argues Trump Is an Example of Why: ‘We’ve Had Some Real Duds’

MSNBC guest Lindsay Chervinsky called on the U.S. to cancel Presidents’ Day on Monday, arguing that it was “silly” to “venerate” presidents like they are “kings.”

Presidents Day’, of course, is observed on the third Monday of February, and traditionally honors the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but evolved into a broader celebration of all presidents.

Chervinsky, who is a presidential historian and executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, appeared on Way Too Early to speak with Vitali on Monday to discuss the holiday, saying:

It is a little bit silly. I mean, we have had some real duds, so I’m not sure we really want to be celebrating all presidents. And the tradition actually comes from celebrating birthdays which is a celebration that we inherited from celebrating the king and I’m just not sure that that’s exactly what we want. I think instead, it makes a lot more sense to celebrate actions.

Let’s celebrate Washington returning his command and ensuring that there wasn’t a military dictatorship. Let’s celebrate Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Things that they actually had control over as opposed to their birthday.

After Vitali reasoned that many people had celebrated the holiday since learning about presidents in school, the academic doubled down:

I’m not sure that we necessarily want to celebrate the people. I think that we want to have a certain respect for the office, I totally get that. And some have done extraordinary things. But by celebrating all of them, I do think it causes us to think of the president as somehow other, when in reality they are a citizen just like everyone else.

Normalize the presidency, and then celebrate extraordinary service. So when someone does something above and beyond, and there have been amazing examples of that, let’s celebrate those moments.

The host countered that having covered three presidential campaigns she had noticed that personality and “star power” were “required” to win the nomination and election.

“That star power is the catapulting force behind a lot of these candidates. But clearly, you’re saying that’s not what we should be venerating in these officials?” she asked.

Chervinksy continued: “I think it’s worth acknowledging, like, really excellent skills. It’s worth respecting those things. But I think that if we see them as somehow other, it causes us to believe that we shouldn’t criticize, we shouldn’t analyze, we shouldn’t hold accountable.”

Pivoting to current events, she added: “There are a lot of conversations now about how much power should the president actually have. And if we’re treating them as these objects of veneration, it’s a lot harder to say ‘No, we should actually check that power.'”

Vitali then more specifically named Trump, citing his quoting of Napoleon Bonaparte as “an example” of the kind of idea citizens should push against.

Chervinky agreed: “Yeah, that’s exactly right. I mean, I think if we think of a president as someone to celebrate just because they exist, which is what the king was, and that’s why they celebrated the king’s birthday, then you kind of it does evolve into that argument that they can do no wrong.”

“Think about the things that are really worth celebrating, think about the actions and the leadership that we want presidents to embody and celebrate that instead,” she concluded.

Watch above via MSNBC.

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