It’s that time of year: Temperatures are dropping, cards and packages are in the mail, and the annual “War on Christmas” returns.
Each year presents new avenues for the evergreen conflict between those who use the term “holiday” in an effort to be inclusive and those who would prefer to see Christmas, both a Christian and a federal holiday, acknowledged. Politicians are no strangers to those battle lines, with former President Donald Trump frequently wading into the annual culture war.
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This year has proven to be no exception, as New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik took to Twitter on Monday to chide the Empire State’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul for her tweet about a “holiday tree.”
The First Gentlemen selected the holiday tree which arrived yesterday — Bob’s Trees in Hagaman has some of the finest trees in New York State!
Can’t wait to see all the decorations from @rockcenternyc all the way to the State Capitol ? pic.twitter.com/uzyxlZBT8F
— Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) November 27, 2021
“No Kathy, it’s called a Christmas tree,” Stefanik, the House Republican Conference chairwoman, wrote with a corresponding emoji.
No Kathy, it’s called a Christmas tree ? https://t.co/4LmeLQopnk
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) November 29, 2021
In a sign of the increasingly partisan nature of the culture war, political columnist Dan Walters recently noted that the terms “holiday” or “Christmas” come and go in California based on the party of the incumbent governor.
What’s in a name? For many years, a tall “Christmas tree” was displayed outside the state Capitol, Gov. Davis changed it to a “holiday tree.” It returned to “Christmas tree” under Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown but Gavin Newsom has changed it again to “State Capitol tree.”
— Dan Walters (@DanCALmatters) November 26, 2021
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A 2020 YouGov survey found that most people do not believe there is a “War on Christmas” but that most Republicans do, highlighting the partisan divide in the culture war and showing why GOP politicians are more likely to weigh in on perceived slights to Christmas.
