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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, ordered flags temporarily flown at full capacity for the president-elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration on Monday.
“I hereby order that in recognition of the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States, the flags of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Virginia be flown at full staff on all state and local buildings and properties of the Commonwealth,” said Youngkin on Saturday.
Youngkin’s order comes despite President Biden’s order following the Death of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29 that flags at all government and public buildings and facilities across the country should fly at half-staff during a 30-day period of mourning, which also happens to include Inauguration Day.
When a former president dies, it is traditional to order a 30-day mourning period and order that flags be flown at half-staff.
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 U.S. flag “should be displayed at half-mast in the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, on all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the federal government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and their territories and possessions.
Flags in Virginia will be returned to half-staff to honor Carter on Tuesday after the presidential inauguration, Youngkin said.
“Flags will be lowered back to half-staff the next day to continue honoring former President James Earl Carter Jr. and will remain at half-staff until January 28, 2025,” the governor wrote.
Youngkin joins several Republican governors who also broke tradition and ordered flags to be flown Monday, including Idaho Gov. Brad Little, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Former President Jimmy Carter. (Photo via Emma Woodhead/Fox Digital)
A trio of Democratic governors – California Governor Gavin NewsomColorado Gov. Jared Polis and Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson have also ordered flags to fly at full capacity at Trump’s inauguration before the mourning period ends on Jan. 28.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also ordered flags to be flown at full capacity at the U.S. Capitol on Inauguration Day.
Trump has criticized the idea of flying flags at half-mast at his inauguration following Carter’s death.
“Democrats are all ‘excited’ that our magnificent American flag may fly at ‘half-mast’ during my inauguration,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on January 3. “They think it’s so great and they’re so happy about it because in fact 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 at what they have done to our once GREAT America in the last four years – it is a total mess! In any case, due to the death of President Jimmy Carter, the flag will be displayed for the first time ever during an inauguration. “A future president must be at half-mast,” 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!”
When former President Nixon was sworn in for his second term in 1973, the flags flew at half-staff after Nixon ordered the flags lowered following the death of former President Truman.
