I don't know of a time when a horde of khaki-clad fraternity brothers with matching Richard Spencer haircuts showing up to a function ever made it better instead of much, much worse. And night three of the Republican National Convention on Wednesday was no exception. Phi Delta Theta fraternity brothers from the University of North Carolina were invited to and honored by the RNC, wielding American flags as they made a grand entrance that felt like a racist fever dream. Republicans honoring frat bros is stupid but hardly out of character—in 2018, they literally put one on the Supreme Court. In this case, the RNC celebrated the Phi Delt bros for the ostensibly courageous act of stopping their classmates from taking down the American flag. Pro-Palestine students, challenging their university for complicity in Israel's ongoing, genocidal campaign in Gaza, risked everything to do so—their enrollment at the university, future job prospects, and even their physical safety. But, Republicans insist, the real heroes are the predominantly white frat boys who risked approximately nothing to stand guard over a piece of fabric. "When the mob tried to take down the American flag on our campus," one of the brothers, referring to his fellow classmates as "the mob," began, "we knew we couldn't let that happen. We stood guard. We held it up. We did not let it fall. It was all about respect, not just for the cloth, but for everything that the flag stands for." Actually, sir, it was indeed "just for the cloth," but sure. "Too many people have sacrificed everything for [the flag]. The least we could do was keep it flying, and tonight, we are proud to honor our flag again." The UNC frat guys who saved the American flag from campus leftists carry American flags at the RNC ???????? pic.twitter.com/84CVemwYss — Old Row (@OldRowOfficial) July 18, 2024 One of the fraternity brothers, Hugh Reeves, told NewsNation of their appearance at the RNC, “I really didn’t do any of this with the intention of coming here … or getting anything out of it. In the moment, I was thinking about my godfather, who had served 20 years in the Air Force. I don’t want to see my flag disrespected like that." And that's all perfectly fine, or whatever, but I'll say it: If you're more upset by the nonviolent protest methods of your anti-war classmates than you are by our country funding and arming a foreign country's horrific war crimes, which have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, you're not a good person! Every aspect of this little RNC demonstration—the comically stupid outfits, the comically stupid commentary, the comically stupid entrance, the comical stupidity of this group of (mostly) white boys even being there—is why I cannot, in good faith, condemn all bullying. Some people, particularly frat bros who are more pressed by "attacks" on a piece of cloth than actual genocide, deserve to be mocked as the whiny little nerds they are.
