Flags at the US Capitol will be flown at full-staff when US President-Elect Donald Trump is sworn in for the second time, The Hill reported. Trump had previously expressed his annoyance with the idea that flags would be flown at half-staff in commemoration of former President Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29, aged 100, as per The Hill.
Mike Johnson, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, said that visuals of flags flying would mark his second inauguration.
Earlier this week, Johnson wrote on social media that on Monday, “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.” Johnson noted that the flags would return to half-staff in memory of Carter the following day.
The dispute stemmed from the practice of lowering flags to half-staff for 30 days following the death of any former president. US President Joe Biden followed that procedure after Carter’s death, and the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted he did not plan to change the regular pattern to accommodate Trump. The president-elect, however, complained about the issue for weeks and said that the proposed flying of flags at half-staff was a mark of Democratic disrespect. In a social media post on January 3, Trump complained that Democrats were “giddy” about the idea.
“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,” Trump alleged. The incoming president added that, because of Carter’s death, “the Flag may, for the first time during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half-mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it,” as per The Hill.
Flags had been flown at half-staff during then-President Richard Nixon’s second inauguration in January 1973.
Former President Harry S. Truman, who led the nation from 1945 to 1953, died on December 26, 1972. Nixon does not appear to have objected, at least publicly, to that arrangement.
Republican governors have also rallied for Trump. Eight GOP-led states—Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas—announced that their flags would be fully raised for Monday’s inauguration. The Hill reported that the backing indicates respect for the President’s office rather than a pro-Trump move.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen (R) issued a press release Tuesday stating, “The official installation of a President is a historic day in the calendar of our nation and should be recognized as such. Having the flag at full staff symbolises respect for that office and our nation’s newly elected leader.”
