President-elect Donald Trump raised the flags at his Mar-a-Lago residence to full-staff in open defiance of the protocol to keep flags at half-staff following the death of a former president.
Jimmy Carter died at the age of 100 two weeks ago. Flags across the nation, including in Washington, D.C., and Florida’s state capital, remain at half-staff in Carter’s honor. Tradition calls for flags to remain in that position for a month after a president’s death. President Joe Biden and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) ordered all flags to be lowered through Jan. 28.
Trump, who was critical of Carter while he was campaigning to return to the White House but offered words of praise for the former president after his death, has complained that flags will be at half-staff leading up to and during his inauguration next week.
Following Biden’s flag mandate, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “the Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration.”
“In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast,” Trump continued. “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The Washington Examiner reached out to a Trump spokesperson for comment.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) opted to raise flags across Texas to their full heights on Monday. Abbott shared his gratitude for Carter’s service in a statement, explaining, “We must also celebrate the service of an incoming president and the bright future ahead for the United States of America.”
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Trump visited Carter as he was lying in state under the Capitol Rotunda last week and attended the funeral service.
Inauguration celebrations will include a performance by the Village People on the eve of Trump’s ceremony and a performance of “America the Beautiful” by Carrie Underwood on the day of.
