So I was riding my bike along the street, the American flag flying behind me, when I heard a horn honk, and a guy sitting in the passenger side of a white four-wheel drive Ram truck leaned over and yelled, “Yay! Go Trump!”
Do you support Trump? Me? He couldn’t be yelling that at me. I looked around for anyone wearing a MAGA hat or a T-shirt with Trump’s face on it, but there was no one there. Then I realized:
This guy is thinking I Trump supporter.
Otherwise, why would I fly the American flag?
Then a week later, it happened again, but in reverse: I was in my car when a woman leaned out of a green Subaru, yelled, “Fuck Trump!”, and gave me the finger. She saw the flag and thought the same thing as the guy in the truck.
This woman is thinking I Trump supporter.
So, on to Friday’s Flag Day question: When did the American flag become President Trump’s property?
And even if the former president doesn’t own it outright, he definitely takes advantage of it. Nowadays, if you see a jacked-up pickup truck flying four American flags, you’ll either honk the horn proudly or move three lanes away. In my neighborhood, there’s a house with a giant Trump flag hanging from its roof. Biden Have you ever bought a flag? I have never bought one. There are dozens of American flags for sale online with Donald Trump’s name and face on them. You’d be hard pressed to find one with Biden’s name and face on it.
Of course, presidential candidates are always happy to wear the flag, but with Trump, the flag has never seemed like a Hollywood prop. Trump doesn’t care about the flag any more than he cares about being a Republican. He cares about how he looks with it.
Twenty years ago when I was with Trump, he kept misrepresenting me as “the guy who runs Sports Illustrated” or “This guy owns Sports Illustrated!” I just worked at the store. When I asked him why he lied to people, he said, “Because it sounds good.”
Trump loves the flag just like he loves the Bible: It looks good. The American flag that flies on Trump’s property is the size of a Denny’s. Trump actually cuddled up to the flag at a conservative conference in 2020 and mouthed, “I love you, baby.”
he amazing It mentions the flag but doesn’t say what it symbolizes.
Would I serve my country in the military? Hmm…no.
Do you follow the law? No, no, 34 times no.
Freedom of speech? Absolutely not. Trump has said he will retaliate “criminally or civilly” against the media if re-elected.
But what really pisses me off is that Trump supporters aren’t just appropriating the flag, they’re abusing it. MAGA is flying it upside down, like the flag flying over the Alitos’ house. Once a nautical beacon signaling a ship in distress, it’s now a beacon signaling a brain in distress.
Video from the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021 shows an Arkansas truck driver picking up an American flag that was attached to a pole and hitting a police officer with it. Bang the Blue.
Video from January 6th also shows the intruders pulling down the American flag and replacing it with a Trump flag. Was Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling an act of treason?
For many Americans, the flag has become a symbol of Trump’s misogyny, bigotry, and his desire to be president for life. That means that for a Democrat like me, flying the American flag in my home is like bringing anthrax brownies to my neighbor. Flying the flag means getting in a pickup truck and getting sworn in. You can see why: During the 2020 election, a convoy of trucks flying American and Trump flags tried to drive off a Biden campaign bus.
The Stars and Stripes have been here for 169 years before Trump was born, and they will be here long after Trump is gone. I say it’s time to bring the flag back. And if you look at a recent ad from the Democratic National Committee for the Biden campaign, it seems the Biden campaign thinks so too. The ad is simply called “The Flag.”
The American flag doesn’t just belong to the 46.9% of voters who voted for Trump last time, it belongs to 336 million of us. More than 81 million Americans voted for Biden in 2020. The more we fly the flag from our porches, our cars, and yes, our bikes, the less it will look like Trump helped Betsy Ross sew the flag.
“Go Trump”? Great idea. Go Trump, go as far away as you can, but leave your flag behind.
