7 Thanksgiving controversies: Date change, mentions of God, ‘Day of Mourning’
Barack Obama
In November 2011, Democrat President Barack Obama garnered controversy for giving an official Thanksgiving speech that did not include any mention of thanking God.
"Holy cow! Is that one screwed up or what?" columnist Sherman Frederick of the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote at the time. "Somebody ought to remind Obama (and his speechwriter) that when Americans sit down around a meal today and give thanks, they give thanks to God."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
“Unreal that Obama doesn’t mention God in Thanksgiving message,” conservative commentator Ben Shapiro stated at the time. “Militant atheist. To whom does he think we are giving thanks?”
Defenders of Obama pointed out that the president had mentioned God in his thanksgiving proclamation for that year, and that past Thanksgiving speeches of his had done the same.
Additionally, reported ABC News, then Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum had also issued Thanksgiving statements that year sans any references to God.
