White House hosts a soggy, education-themed Easter egg roll

Latest

White House hosts a soggy, education-themed Easter egg roll

Editor2

April 2, 2024

White House hosts a soggy, education-themed Easter egg roll

[ad_1]

(L-R) First woman Jill Biden, U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff wave to visitors in the course of the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn on April 1, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

cover caption

toggle caption

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

It’s one of many few days of the yr the place the chief department turns into a baby’s playground — and this yr, the White House Easter Egg Roll drew children to the South Lawn regardless of some intermittent rain.

The White House expected 40,000 people this year – which it mentioned was a report for a convention that goes again to 1878.

This yr’s occasion marks the third time President Biden and first woman Jill Biden have hosted it because it was canceled in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Playing up this yr’s theme – “EGGucation” Roll – means the White House is that includes a studying nook, a station to study concerning the photo voltaic eclipse, science tasks, and, after all, a go to from the Easter Bunny.

“I’m a teacher, so I love any time we can turn the White House into a classroom,” mentioned the primary woman as she welcomed the group Monday morning.

President Joe Biden and first woman Jill Biden host the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn on April 1, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

cover caption

toggle caption

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Joe Biden and first woman Jill Biden host the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn on April 1, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

(L-R) First woman Jill Biden, U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff wave to visitors in the course of the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

cover caption

toggle caption

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

(L-R) First woman Jill Biden, U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff wave to visitors in the course of the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Biden praised the occasion early Monday on NBC’s Today present. “This is the people’s house,” Biden said. “It always makes me feel good to look out there and see average Americans just walking around, looking at what’s going on. Because they own it.”

The president and first woman joined kids as they hunted for and rolled eggs. All advised, the occasion’s looking, adorning and rolling – and snacking – required greater than 64,000 eggs, which farmers in Pennsylvania and North Carolina donated, in line with the American Egg Board. Braswell Family Farms of North Carolina boiled and dyed greater than 6,000 eggs every day for eight days, and labored with the White House to curate particular shades of orange, purple, pink and a “Biden blue.”

President Joe Biden helps a younger visitor roll her hard-boiled egg down on the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

cover caption

toggle caption

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Joe Biden helps a younger visitor roll her hard-boiled egg down on the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

First Lady Jill Biden reads a ebook to kids in the course of the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Images

cover caption

toggle caption

Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Images

First Lady Jill Biden reads a ebook to kids in the course of the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Images

“Easter reminds us of the power of hope and renewal, sacrifice and resurrection, but mainly love and grace toward one another,” Biden mentioned Monday on the occasion. “It’s a time to pray for one another, to cherish the blessings and the possibilities that we have as Americans.”

But the vacation was not freed from controversy. Karoline Leavitt, former President Donald Trump’s marketing campaign press secretary, mentioned Biden ought to apologize for celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility, which is all the time held on March 31, on Easter Sunday this yr.

Other Republicans spoke out in settlement with the Trump marketing campaign, together with House Speaker Mike Johnson, who additionally criticized the White House for banning non secular themes from being included in designs for the annual kids’s egg adorning contest. Johnson wrote that Biden “betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ” in a statement on X.

Guests take part within the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

cover caption

toggle caption

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Guests take part within the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

President Joe Biden greets younger visitors in the course of the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

cover caption

toggle caption

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Joe Biden greets younger visitors in the course of the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The White House and the American Egg Board, which helps the annual occasion, mentioned that the rule over banning non secular symbols has been a long-standing coverage predating the Biden administration. It was in impact when Trump was in workplace.

“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,” said American Egg Board president and CEO Emily Metz.