Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss in 2017, even though President Joe Biden’s administration tried to cancel the children’s author in 2021.
“Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!” Harris wrote on Twitter on March 2, 2017, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go”:
Happy birthday, #DrSeuss! “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) March 2, 2017
The Harris post on Twitter was revisited after Vice President Joe Biden issued a statement on National Reading Day, but did not mention Dr. Seuss, who was enthusiastically celebrated on that day by previous presidents.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki blamed the Department of Education for the statement issued under Biden’s signature Tuesday.
“The proclamation was written by the Department of Education and you could certainly speak to them about more specifics about the drafting of it,” she said when asked about the omission of any reference to Dr. Seuss in the annual statement.
Psaki reminded reporters that National Reading Day existed to not only celebrate reading but diversity as well.
“The day is also a chance to celebrate diverse authors, whose work and lived experience reflect the diversity of our country,” she said, and added, “It is especially important that we ensure all children can see themselves represented and celebrated in the books that they read.”
Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced Tuesday they would stop publishing six of the author’s books, after years of complaints that they were racist.
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