Republican Glenn Youngkin, the governor of Virginia, ordered flags temporarily flown at full staff for the president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
“I hereby direct that the flags of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Virginia shall be flown at full staff on all state and local buildings and grounds throughout the Commonwealth in recognition of the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States,” Youngkin said Saturday.
Youngkin’s directive comes despite President Biden’s post-election order death of former President Jimmy Carter on December 29, that flags at all government and public buildings and grounds across the country must fly at half-mast for a 30-day mourning period, which happens to include Inauguration Day.
It is a tradition that when a former president dies, he institutes a thirty-day mourning period and flies the flags at half-mast.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin speaks as President-elect Donald Trump listens during a campaign rally at the Salem Civic Center on November 2, 2024 in Salem, Virginia. (Getty Images)
Biden said the American flag should be “displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all federal government naval vessels in the District of Columbia and around the world.” United States and its territories and possessions.”
Flags in Virginia will return to half-staff in Carter’s honor on Tuesday after the presidential inauguration, Youngkin said.
“The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to honor former President James Earl Carter Jr. honor and remain at half-staff through January 28, 2025,” the governor wrote.
Youngkin joins several Republican governors who have also broken tradition and ordered flags to be raised on Monday, including Idaho Governor Brad Little, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Governor of Alabama’s Kay Ivey and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa and Governor Greg Abbott of Texas.
Former President Jimmy Carter. (Photo via Emma Woodhead/Fox Digital)
A trio of Democratic governors – California Governor Gavin NewsomColorado Governor Jared Polis and Washington Governor Bob Ferguson have also ordered flags to be flown at full staff for Trump’s inauguration before the mourning period ends on January 28.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also ordered flags to be flown at the Capitol with full staff on Inauguration Day.
Trump has criticized the idea of flying flags at half-staff for his inauguration after Carter’s death.
“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our beautiful American flag potentially flying at half-mast during my inauguration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on January 3. “They love it so much and are so happy about it because: in reality they don’t love our country, they only think about themselves.”
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin speaks during the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton on June 22, 2024 in Washington, DC (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
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“Look what they’ve done to our once GREAT America over the past four years – it’s a total mess! In any case, due to the death of President Jimmy Carter, the flag may be at half-mast for the first time ever during an inauguration of a future president,” he continued. “No one wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it turns out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Flags were flown at half-staff when former President Nixon was sworn in for his second term in 1973 after Nixon ordered the flags lowered following the death of former President Truman.
