Texas Governor Orders Flags to Full-Staff for Inauguration, Johnson Follows Suit
With the death of a former president, tradition says the American flag is lowered to half-staff for 30 days.
When Carter died, Biden ordered all flags lowered for that 30-day period, but that will not be the case during Trump’s inauguration.
Abbott Orders Flags Raised
Reports surfaced almost immediately after the order was given to lower the flags that Trump was upset that his inauguration would have flags at half-staff.
Governor Abbott was the first to react, announcing that flags in Texas would be raised for the inauguration, stating, “Texas continues to mourn with our fellow Americans across the country over the passing of former President Jimmy Carter.
“President Carter’s steadfast leadership left a lasting legacy that will be felt for generations to come, which together as a nation, we honor by displaying flags at half-staff for 30 days.
“On January 20, our great nation will celebrate our democratic tradition of transferring power to a new President by inaugurating the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. As we unite our country and usher in this new era of leadership, I ordered all flags to be raised to full-staff at the Texas Capitol and all state buildings for the inauguration of President Trump.”
Johnson Follows Suit
After Abbott made his move, you just knew Speaker Johnson (R-LA) would follow suit, wanting not to upset Trump.
This week, Johnson also announced that flags at the Capitol would be raised during the inauguration, stating, “On Jan. 20, 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.”
Then the floodgates opened, with governors in Alabama, Iowa, and Nebraska all giving similar orders. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did the same, stating, “In light of the importance of this day, and on this patriotic occasion, I hereby order all flags to be raised to full staff at the Florida Capitol and across all state buildings, installations and grounds for the inauguration of the 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.”
So far, all flags are expected to be lowered on the 21st after Trump takes office, but that remains to be seen.
Trump Sending a Message
Trump, as I stated, was fuming over the flags being lowered, saying this was about unity, but this is all about Trump’s ego, having posted, “The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration. 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.”
I say this was about Trump’s ego because on Monday, Trump raised the flags at Mar-a-Lago, ignoring the 30-day order by Governor DeSantis to keep flags lowered except for the inauguration. That is just a blatant sign of disrespect for a long-standing American tradition, and it makes zero sense why Trump ordered the flags raised so early.
When I look at something like this, I look at it from both sides, and I ask how we, as conservatives, would feel if it was Bush who had passed last month and a Democrat was taking office. What would our reaction be to the Dems raising the flags during the traditional 30-day mourning period? We would be furious, and anyone who denies that is simply not telling the truth.
Democrats are going to be furious, and it is not that I care that they are going to be upset, it is what is making them upset, knowing full well people like Speaker Johnson (R-LA), Governor DeSantis, and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) would be losing their minds if the situation were reversed. I just think this was a mistake, as it is going to create yet another narrative for Democrats to attack us, and we really have no wiggle room if we expect to win in 2026 and 2028. It is just an unnecessary battle we are now being forced to fight.
