The White House Sent the Weirdest Flag Day Tweet—and the Internet Can’t Stop Laughing
Chris O’Meara/AP
June 14 was Flag Day, a minor holiday that was established by Woodrow Wilson in 1916 to celebrate the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress made the stars and stripes the official American flag. In honor of the event, the White House Twitter account posted this celebratory tweet:
pic.twitter.com/c40BQpZFtW
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 14, 2019
The photo, highlighting the moment President Donald Trump hugged the American flag at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, triggered a cascade of outrage and hilarity from politicians, commentators, and professional comedians on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and TBS’ Full Frontal, some describing the tweet as “weird” and “not what Betsy Ross intended.”
Remember when @WhiteHouse wasn’t a parody account? 🤦♂️ https://t.co/qhDQEtiIzi
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) June 14, 2019
We, too, celebrated #FlagDay with a ceremonial flag hugging here at the Trump Presidential Twitter Library in D.C.! #DailyShowLibrary pic.twitter.com/VozSak8tGy
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) June 14, 2019
This is not what Betsy Ross intended #FlagDay2019 https://t.co/Vlk32WUke1
— Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) June 14, 2019
In which the official @WhiteHouse Twitter account celebrates #FlagDay by tweeting a picture of Trump giving a flag a #MeToo moment. https://t.co/jTk3mfxrOD
— Miranda Yaver (@mirandayaver) June 14, 2019
Michael Cohen just wrote that flag a check for $130K.
— Chris Jackson (@ChrisCJackson) March 4, 2019
The almost universally critical responses apparently didn’t deter the president from invoking Flag Day again on Saturday, when he tweeted support for a proposed bill from Sen. Steve Daines’ (R-Mont.)—who introduced similar legislation in in 2017 and 2018— that would prevent the “physical desecration” of the American flag. This is a cherished issue for Trump, who has called for punishment for burning the American symbol. Shortly after the 2016 election, he tweeted, “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!”
All in for Senator Steve Daines as he proposes an Amendment for a strong BAN on burning our American Flag. A no brainer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019
Trump didn’t respond, much less acknowledge, to the avalanche of criticism for having his aggressive embrace of the flag as the official White House acknowledgment of the holiday. But the criticism just kept coming:
This is real real weird.
— Chris Howie (@MrChrisHowie) June 14, 2019
This isn’t some idiotic campaign or RNC account. It’s the official White House account. How far toward the Third World we’ve sunk. https://t.co/8ynyxvxlw5
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 14, 2019
I prefer American Presidents who don’t hug adversarial foreign powers and accept campaign assistance from foreign countries.#FlagDay https://t.co/7korDM6Em6
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 14, 2019
There’s some sort of orange shit stain on the flag.
— Brandon Bird (@Brandon_Bird) June 14, 2019
Yes. The official White House post for Flag Day is the Imbecile-in-Chief humping it at CPAC. This really is like living in a Third World dictatorship…except less competent. https://t.co/f9LjLPyfi2
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) June 14, 2019
From the official US Flag Code:
“The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way….The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. ” https://t.co/t4XsNBjIfR
— Jay Bookman (@jaysbookman) June 14, 2019
