The Biden administration ended up with egg on its face over a snafu involving the American flag.
Adding to the confusion, the White House tried to quietly rectify what was reported as an oversight in an apparent attempt to avoid embarrassment — seems it’s always the coverup that gets ’em — instead of going on record to own the blunder.
President Joe Biden had ordered flags on Saturday to be flown at half-staff in honor of law enforcement, only to suddenly reissue a proclamation on Friday ordering the flags to be flown at full-staff. Given that Biden appears to be controlled by the radical left faction of his party, who are notably anti-police, the move raised plenty of eyebrows.
While it’s not a stretch to think that Biden was pressured to reverse the initial call to lower the flags in observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day, which honors officers killed or injured in the line of duty, turns out Saturday was also Armed Forces Day.
Falling on the third Saturday in May, Armed Forces Day mandates that flags be flown at full staff — U.S. Code states: “The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day.”
In reporting on the fiasco, The Washington Post cited a White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly, who called the fumble a “once-in-a-decade” thing.
“This weekend is a once-in-a-decade scenario based on the flag code. As a result, flag code dictates that the flags should not be lowered today,” the anonymous source told the Post. “The president stands by the message of his proclamation and his longtime commitment to working with law enforcement to build safer communities.”
Of course, by failing to be upfront about what appears to be an honest mistake, and considering the Democratic Party’s current disposition toward law enforcement, the administration drew immediate scorn — rightfully so.
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted: “In case you had any question as to where President Biden stands on police, now you know.”
“Earlier this week Joe Biden announced that flags would be flown at Half Staff tomorrow to honor the men & women in blue who died in the line of duty,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla. “Today he ‘Friday news dumped’ that he’d changed his mind: in his opinion, they aren’t worthy of lowering the flags. Unacceptable!”
Mast’s tweet caught the eye of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who called the decision “bizarre.”
This is bizarre. https://t.co/YNKpMR0DRy
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 16, 2021
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu called Biden’s sudden change “outrageous” in a series of tweets posted on Friday.
“Late tonight Joe Biden quietly tried to reverse his Peace Officers Memorial Day Proclamation, hoping no one would notice they are no longer calling for flags to fly at Half Staff across the USA honoring our men women in blue,” the Republican governor said. “This is outrageous and precedent breaking.”
On May 10th, the Biden Administration announced in a release flags would be flying at Half Staff across the country to honor our heroes on the front line. Tonight, in the eleventh hour, the Biden Administration is now no longer calling for flags to fly at Half Staff. 2/ pic.twitter.com/PLMFU8WwNd
— Chris Sununu (@GovChrisSununu) May 14, 2021
“On May 10th, the Biden Administration announced in a release flags would be flying at Half Staff across the country to honor our heroes on the front line. Tonight, in the eleventh hour, the Biden Administration is now no longer calling for flags to fly at Half Staff,” he continued.
Sununu went on to say that New Hampshire “will continue to honor the men and women who have died or been injured in the line of duty by flying flags at Half Staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day as we have always done, and as is right.”
When the governor learned of the reported reason Saturday, he faulted Biden for not offering a public explanation for the decision.
“The fact remains that it was a disrespectful act by the president to reverse his directive to lower flags at 6 p.m. the night before, without even an explanation to law enforcement or their families who were expecting for their losses to be honored today, and with no reference made at all to Armed Forces Day,” Sununu said, according to the Associated Press.
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Tom@bizpacreview.com
The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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