Biden omits God, Jesus while kicking off first White House Easter Egg Roll since pandemic
President Joe Biden celebrated the Easter holiday with a longstanding White House tradition — but without referencing the reason for the season.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were joined by their spouses Monday for the traditional Easter Egg Roll competition, along with more than a dozen children waiting to compete.
The event featured various characters in costume, including Snoopy, Charlie Brown and “Minions” from the “Despicable Me” franchise.
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Wearing a purple coat and pink flowered dress, First Lady Jill Biden kicked things off by telling the kids in attendance that “the determined spirit of education is what we wanted to honor in this Easter Egg Roll today.”
"Education never stops," Jill Biden said. "So, we turned the South Lawn into a school community."
In his speech, the second Catholic president of the United States failed to reference the Easter holiday’s theological significance. Both of the Bidens omitted any mention of God or the Bible from their official remarks.
"My job is to keep it from raining ... for another two minutes," President Biden said in a joking manner.
"Jill and I are excited to have you at the White House. We weren't able to host this Easter Egg Roll last year because of the pandemic. But this year ... we're finally getting together again, and it's so special. It means so much to see and hear the children and all the families show up to be here today."
The president signaled the start of the traditional race — as Jill Biden helped to blow the whistle — as about 14 children raced across the South Lawn in search of eggs.
With the rain picking up as the morning went on, the Bidens took turns reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? to the kids before snapping photos with guests. The guests included White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and her family, “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
The president's son, Hunter Biden, who reportedly could face a federal indictment following an investigation into his foreign business dealings, was also in attendance.
While Biden didn't mention God or Jesus in his speech, Former President Donald Trump also omitted references to God and Jesus in his official remarks at the 2019 Easter Egg Roll.
In 2019, God and Jesus' resurrection were seemingly a major focus during the reading portion of the event.
Then-White House Senior Advisor Kellyanne Conway and then-Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, two outspoken Christians, joined first lady Melania Trump in the reading nook.
Conway readGod Gave us Easter by Lisa Tawn Bergren, which “features the adorable polar bear Little Cub, talking with her father and learning about God's design.”
Sanders, meanwhile, read The Easter Story by Patricia Pingry, a children’s book that “simply and gently explains Jesus' death as the means of salvation for mankind.”
The Easter Egg Roll dates back to 1878 when President Rutherford Hayes was in office. As in 2020 and 2021, the event was not held from 1917 to 1920 and 1943 to 1945 due to World War I and World War II, according to the White House.
