House speaker will ignore Carter’s death to satisfy Trump’s fragile ego
House Speaker Mike Johnson will raise the flags at the U.S. Capitol to full-staff for Donald Trump’s inauguration, ignoring U.S. flag code in an effort to coddle Dear Leader.
“On January 20th, the flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump. The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter,” Johnson said in a statement.
President Joe Biden ordered the flags to be flown half-staff on Dec. 29, the day Carter died at the age of 100. Biden’s order adhered to U.S. flag code, which says that after a current or former president dies, the flag should be lowered for 30 days—which, in Carter’s case, overlaps with Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Of course, displaying a flag at half-staff is still displaying the flag. And there’s precedent for having flags at half staff during an inauguration. The flags were lowered during Richard Nixon’s inauguration in 1973, following the death of former President Harry S. Truman.
But Trump is enraged that because of Carter’s death, the flags would be lowered when he takes the oath of office.
“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump whined on Truth Social on Jan. 3, incorrectly using the term “half mast,” which applies to flags on ships. “They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves. … Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Clearly, Trump is the one who was really pissed about something as inconsequential as the position of the flags as he’s sworn in. And his GOP lackeys have listened to his childish complaints and are appeasing him by ignoring tradition and U.S. code.
Johnson’s decision followed that of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who each announced on Monday that they will raise the flags the day of Trump’s inauguration. They both made the ridiculous excuse that flag code says that flags should be “displayed” on certain important days, such as Inauguration Day, even though a lowered flag is, again, still a displayed flag.
By itself, raising a flag doesn’t have any real negative consequences for the American people. But Trump may make future demands of Republicans that are dangerous or bad for the public—as we learned he did on multiple occasions during his first tenure. And the fact that Republicans are so eager to appease Trump on an issue as minor as this is a worrying sign for how they will react in those future situations.