Portland has once again proven that no American tradition is too beloved—or too harmless—for the woke left to strip it of meaning. This time, city leaders managed to turn what should have been a joyful Christmas tree lighting into a humorless exercise in political activism and cultural erasure.
At the city’s 41st annual tree-lighting ceremony in Pioneer Courthouse Square, thousands gathered expecting a celebration of Christmas cheer. What they got instead was a carefully sanitized event in which officials refused to utter the word “Christmas” even once. Portland didn’t light a *Christmas tree*—it lit “the tree.” Not “holiday tree,” not “winter tree,” just “the tree,” as if the mere acknowledgment of Christmas might offend the city’s army of perpetually aggrieved progressives.
The event opened with a speaker from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs marking Native American Heritage Day—a gesture that, in itself, most Americans wouldn’t oppose. But the evening quickly shifted from cultural recognition to political soapboxing.
Before the crowd could enjoy a single carol, a speaker draped in a Palestinian flag seized the microphone and declared that this was the “perfect time” to talk about “genocides going on” in the world. She then led a “Free, free Palestine” chant—right in the middle of a supposed holiday celebration meant for families, children, and community unity.
Nothing spreads Christmas cheer in Portland quite like injecting Middle East geopolitics into a tree-lighting ceremony.
She then performed the “Strong Woman Song” with two children at her side, noting that it felt “appropriate” because they were “representing our matriarchs.” Left unsaid was why any of this belonged at a Christmas celebration—sorry, “tree lighting.”
Only after nearly an hour of speeches, political posturing, and everything *but* Christmas did Mayor Keith Wilson finally take the stage. He brought out Santa Claus—one of the few remaining vestiges of Western tradition that Portland hasn’t canceled—and flipped the switch on the 75-foot tree adorned with 10,000 bulbs.
But even Santa wasn’t enough to distract from what was missing.
There was no mention of Christ, Christmas, or the holiday’s Christian heritage. Not in the event program, not in the announcements, not in the ceremony—nothing. Only when Santa led a sing-along did attendees finally hear familiar carols like “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Deck the Halls.”
The backlash online was swift and unsurprising.
“They can’t even say Christmas tree in Portland. They call it ‘the tree,’” one user wrote.
Another asked, “WHY DOES everything have to be so DIVISIVE??!!”
Others were more direct: “It’s a Christmas tree, it’s always been a Christmas tree, and it will always be a Christmas tree.”
Perhaps the most pointed comment came from someone who had just watched a Christmas parade in Texas: “Everyone was saying Merry Christmas. God bless Texas.”
Meanwhile, Portland continues insisting that celebrating Christmas by name is just too controversial—unless, of course, the celebration can be repurposed into a political rally.
And that, more than anything, shows how deeply cultural rot has taken hold in America’s most progressive cities.
