President-elect Donald Trump went on a social media rant Friday over American flags being flown at half-staff during his inauguration, both complaining about the situation and blasting his opponents for laughing about it.
“The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” Trump wrote. “They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves.”
He continued: “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it.”
In recognition of the life of late Democratic President Jimmy Carter, who died earlier this week at age 100, President Joe Biden issued a proclamation ordering U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and other government locations “for a period of 30 days from the day of his death.” The proclamation is in line with a policy from the United States Department of Veteran Affairs.
That means flags will be flown at half-staff through Jan. 28 ― more than a week after Trump’s scheduled inauguration at the U.S. Capitol. The twist of fate has fueled social media fodder in recent days, with jokes about Carter leaving “one last gift” for Trump and the half-staff flags signifying not just the death of Carter, but also the death of democracy.
Trump also suggested multiple times throughout his post that the half-staff flags during his inauguration were only a possibility. “Let’s see how it plays out,” he wrote.
He also wrongly asserted Friday that the flags would be flown at half-staff “for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President.” In 1972, President Richard Nixon took the oath of office while flags were flown at half-staff in memoriam of President Harry Truman.
Trump, a famously image-focused president, has lost his cool before when events didn’t go his way. At a rally days before November’s election, he fumed over technical issues with his mic.
“You’ve got to be kidding. Do you want to see me knock the hell out of people backstage?” he said, adding later: “I get so angry. I’m up here seething. I’m seething. I’m working my ass off with this stupid mic. I’m blowing out my left arm. Now I’m going to blow out my right arm and I’m blowing out my damn throat, too, because these stupid people.”
He’s also gotten worked up about a malfunctioning teleprompter, not looking “slim” in photos, having to walk down stairs at his events and jurors not smiling at him during his hush money trial.
