Just Put Harriet Tubman On the Goddamned $20 Bill Already

Politics
Just Put Harriet Tubman On the Goddamned $20 Bill Already
Photo:Chip Somodevilla / Staff (Getty)

The Trump administration, as part of its total dedication to excellence in being petty, hateful dicks, has pushed the redesign of the Harriet Tubman $20 from 2020 to 2028. The sad part is, the dick-tastic move is actually an improvement over Option B: maybe not putting her on the bill at all.

Harriet Tubman’s journey to the $20 began when the US Treasury announced the original redesign plans in 2016, under Obama. But then Trump was elected, and Steve Mnuchin made some noises about how he just wasn’t too sure about the change. The plan was “not something I’m focused on at the moment,” he said, repeatedly. He’s now coughed up a timeline, but it’s so far in the future it’s barely even real. NBC News reported:

“The primary reason we have looked at redesigning the currency is for counterfeiting issues,” Mnuchin said in response to questions from Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee. “Based upon this, the $20 bill will now not come out until 2028. The $10 bill and the $50 bill will come out with new features beforehand.”

Sure—counterfeiting. Not the fact that during the 2016 election, Trump called the decision to put Tubman on the bill “pure political correctness” and suggested they instead put her on the $2, which of course is barely in use. Once he was elected, Trump hung a portrait of Andrew Jackson, ethnic-cleansing slaveholder and current resident of the $20, on the wall of the Oval Office.

However, you can still put Tubman on the $20, or any bill you like, with a specially designed stamp of Tubman’s face.

 
Join the discussion...