Democrats on New York’s Long Island cried foul over the weekend after a Donald Trump-supporting county executive did not lower his jurisdiction’s flags to half-staff in honor of the late President Jimmy Carter, who died last Sunday at the age of 100.
Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman seemingly relented and released a statement Sunday saying that he would allow flags to be lowered for just three days—a significantly shorter period of time than most other municipalities in New York State and across the country.
The period in question, Jan. 7 to Jan. 9, also notably would not include Trump’s inauguration day. Last week, Trump pitched a fit on Truth Social over the fact that flags would likely be flying at half-staff across the country when he is set to be sworn into office on Jan. 20.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The Democrats are all “giddy” about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at “half mast” during my Inauguration. 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,” Trump wrote to Truth Social on Friday. “In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it.”
Trump’s online supporters all agreed.
“OUR FLAG SHOULD BE FLYING FULLY MAST FOR THE PEOPLES PRESIDENT’S INAUGURATION,” a Truth Social user commented on his post. “They Are Showing Us They Hate Us because WE CHOSE THE PRESIDENT AND WE Are Taking Back OUR POWER!”
“Anything to disrupt President Trump’s Inauguration makes the Dems happy,” another user wrote. “I’m so sick of all of this.”
Blakeman, once called a “mini-Trump” by New York’s Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs, has staunchly supported the billionaire over the years. He also spoke at a rally with Trump during the 2024 campaign and held an umbrella over the incoming president during a press conference earlier this year.
Many Democrats were incensed when Blakeman seemingly sided with Trump and left the flags on Nassau County-run buildings flying high, despite both New York State and neighboring Suffolk County lowering theirs from Dec. 30 through the last week of January.
Seth Koslow, a Democratic county legislator, told CBS News New York that “politics shouldn’t play into” the decision whether to honor a former president.
“This should be about what’s right for a person who represented our country, who guided our country and then served our country when they were done as president, and it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
Under Blakeman’s post announcing the flag lowering, commenters remained split on the decision.
“Show some respect and fly them at half staff for the 30 days that President Biden called for. Stop being a partisan shill,” wrote one commenter under his statement on X.
“All flags should be raised to their highest point. Enough with the nonsense,” wrote another.
