President Joe Biden scrambled the political landscape over Easter weekend, with Republican critics accusing the administration of banning religious egg art as part of a White House Easter tradition.
The source of the squabble was a flyer promoting an Easter art contest for children of National Guard families, part of the White House’s Easter events, including the long-standing White House Easter Egg Roll tradition. The flier said the egg art “must not include any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements.”
American Egg Board CEO Emily Metz responded to the eggshell art quarrel, lending the organization’s support for the Easter tradition.
“The American Egg Board has been a supporter of the White House Easter Egg Roll for over 45 years and the guideline language referenced in recent news reports has consistently applied to the board since its founding, across administrations,” Metz said in a statement.
While the president received considerable backlash from frustrated Republicans over the flyer, Jill Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said the rule predates the Biden administration.
“The American Egg Board flyer’s standard non-discrimination language requesting artwork has been used for the last 45 years, across all Dem & Republican Admins — for all WH Easter Egg Rolls — incl previous Administration’s,” she posted on X.
The American Egg Board’s rule was adopted in 1978 under President Jimmy Carter and has been in place ever since. However, this isn’t the first time the American Egg Board has fried up controversy. In 2008, the egg company tried to direct $3 million into opposing a California ballot measure that would ban strict confinement of farm animals.
In 2013, the board tried to get government regulators to stop the production of “Just Mayo” vegan egg products and in emails allegedly joked about “pooling our money to put a hit” on Josh Tetrick, the founder of the food startup company Hampton Creek, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Then-CEO of American Egg Board Joanne Ivy stepped down following the free market controversy.
Joe Biden was also in the hot seat over the weekend for reiterating the International Transgender Day of Visibility, which fell on Easter Sunday this year, leading to backlash from religious groups and Republicans who have criticized the administration for not acknowledging the religious meaning of Easter.