John Jefferson
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Tuesday that flags at the U.S. Capitol will be raised to full-staff next Monday, Jan. 20, to mark President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The move comes despite the official order by President Biden after the Dec. 29 death of former President Jimmy Carter that flags across the country would fly at half-staff for a 30-day mourning period.
“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.
THIS REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR SAYS FLAGS WILL FLY FULL STAFF ON TRUMP INAUGURATION IN HIS STATE
Johnson is a strong supporter of Trump, and the president-elect’s recent backing of him helped Johnson diffuse opposition by some far-right Republicans to his re-election as speaker in the new Congress.
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According to the U.S. flag code, U.S. flags are flown at half-staff for a 30-day period to mark the passing of a current or former president, at federal government buildings, military installations and vessels and at U.S. embassies and other facilities around the world.
Trump earlier this month claimed on social media that “Democrats are all ‘giddy’” about flags being flown at half-staff during his inauguration.
“Nobody wants to see this,” Trump argued. “No American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
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The U.S. flag code is not mandatory, which means that Trump could technically override it once he is inaugurated as president.
The Associated Press observed that a flag at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, was flying at full height on Monday.
The flag had been flying at half-staff but was raised in the days after Carter’s funeral service at National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and burial in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, both of which took place on Thursday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced that flags at the state Capitol building in Austin and at all state office buildings would also be raised to full-staff next Monday to mark Trump’s inauguration.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report
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