This Is a Christmas Tree

Submission 3,497

Part of a series on The War On Christmas. [View Related Entries]

About

This Is a Christmas Tree refers to a series of tweets made by former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. In the tweets, Walker posted images of a Christmas tree and a Hanukkah menorah, insisting that they are elements of the specific holidays Christmas and Hanukkah, respectively, criticizing his successor, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers for calling the evergreen tree on display in the state capitol a "Holiday Tree."

Origin

On November 8th, 2019, the Associated Press^[9] reported that Governor Evers had reversed Walker's decision to refer to the evergreen tree at the capitol as a "Christmas Tree," opting for "holiday tree." According to the story:

Politicians called it a Christmas tree until 1985, when they began referring to it as a holiday tree to avoid perceptions that they were endorsing religion. DOA allows other groups to place displays in the rotunda as end-of-the-year holidays approach, including a menorah and a Festivus pole, a nod to the fictional holiday in the “Seinfeld” television series. But the controversy over what to call the tree has never really died.

Walker tweeted^[1] an image of a menorah and the caption, "This is a Menorah candle this is lit during the Festival of Lights as part of Hanukkah. This is not a holiday candle holder." The tweet received more than 1,000 likes and 200 retweets in less than one week (shown below, left).

Minutes later, Walker tweeted^[2] a photograph of a Christmas tree and the caption,"This is a Christmas Tree that is used by people celebrating Christmas 🎄 This is not a holiday tree." The tweet received more than 39,000 comments, 25,000 likes and 8,400 retweets in less than one week (shown below, right).

Spread

Following the tweets, people mocked Walker for his use of the term "holiday tree" and his overall point that people would not know a Christmas tree or menorah. Comedian Chris D'Elia tweeted,^[3] "Honestly? I can’t believe people would care about this EITHER way. If someone called it a holiday tree. Who. Absolutely. Gives a shit? It matters zero. Call it a fuckin Subaru I don’t give a shit." The tweet received more than 87,000 likes and 10,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, left).

Producer Elan Gale parodied the tweet.^[4] He wrote, "This is an Apple Tree that is used by people growing apples. It is ALSO not a holiday tree." The tweet received more than 4,100 likes and 160 retweets in three days (shown below, center).

Comic book artist Eli Valley parodied the tweet,^[5] replacing the menorah for a dreidel. The tweet received more than 1,200 likes in less than one week (shown below, right).

Several media outlets covered the meme, including HuffPost,^[6] CBS,^[7] Yahoo^[8] and more.