Biden Makes Massive Change to White House Website Minutes After Being Sworn In
A Spanish version of the White House website appeared online Wednesday after President Joe Biden took the oath of office.
Spanish language content on the site was added in 2001, during the administration of former President George W. Bush.
During the administration of former President Barack Obama, content grew on the page titled “La Casa Blanca.”
That all changed when former President Donald Trump took office in 2017. Although the Trump administration at one point said it would restore Spanish language content, the official White House website remained English-only.
The official White House Twitter account, @LaCasaBlanca, operated throughout Trump’s presidency, however, according to CNN.
The return of the Spanish site was celebrated by some but also drew some nitpicks.
Four years ago, President Trump decided he didn’t need a Spanish @WhiteHouse webpage.
In response, I introduced legislation to correct that & ensure all federal websites are available in the USA’s top 5 languages.
Today, La Casa Blanca is back: https://t.co/wa135Yw30Y
— Rep. Lou Correa (@RepLouCorrea) January 20, 2021
Interestingly, the “Get Involved” page in English includes links to apply for a job or a White House fellowship. The Spanish page… does not. This was also true of the transition website: the English version had a “submit your resume” button; the Spanish version did not. https://t.co/SxtnzkFFsz pic.twitter.com/McGZ1aNKsD
— Alberto Medina (@AlbertoMedinaPR) January 20, 2021
Spanish also made a brief Inauguration Day appearance when performer Jennifer Lopez used the language to quote a section of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Maybe a good thing the inauguration was closed to the public, bc Latinx would NOT have known how to act when JLo started speaking in Spanish and riffing on “Let’s Get Loud” in America the Beautiful
— José Domínguez (@jrafdominguez) January 20, 2021
Although English is the language in which most business is conducted in America, the United States does not have an official national language. There have been occasional efforts to make English the official language of the country, but all have failed, according to the BBC.
The language change is not the only one on the White House website.
For anyone who uses the site’s contact form, there is now an option to select which pronoun one wishes to be called by, such as “she/her,” or “he/him.”
In a change that got positive reviews from TechCrunch, the site now has the popular dark mode.
The new Whitehouse website has a dark mode ? https://t.co/de4FSxWMCt pic.twitter.com/UdN6pECw7c
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) January 20, 2021
And for those prowling about the source code of the site, there is an invitation, according to Fox News.
“If you’re reading this, we need your help building back better,” the message said, inviting applications to the U.S. Digital Service. “https://usds.gov/apply.”
Did you know that The Western Journal now publishes some content in Spanish as well as English, for international audiences? Click here to read this article on The Western Journal en Español!
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