Conservatives have blasted liberal politicians and media figures for labeling a long-loved Revolutionary War-era flag the “MAGA battle flag” in an attempt to link Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Representatives of prominent conservative groups, along with several conservatives on social media, called the flag a symbol of January 6 and pushed back against attempts to link Alito to the riot. They pointed to the flag’s history as a patriotic symbol flown by Americans in the 13 colonies and its more modern depictions, such as its use on a 1968 U.S. postage stamp and at San Francisco City Hall in 2019, as evidence the flag is not a symbol of a MAGA insurrection.
“This is just one of many historic American flags, and they’re trying to make it look like he was supporting insurrectionists or something through some kind of conspiracy-based guilt-by-association theory,” Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, told Fox News Digital when asked about the criticism.
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Conservatives have blasted liberal politicians and media figures for labeling a Revolutionary War-era flag, which is still in use, the “MAGA battle flag” in an attempt to link the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. (SOPA Images / Contributor)
Media reported on the incident earlier this week, with The New York Times reporting that “another provocative symbol [Alito’s] According to interviews and photos, he had a vacation home in New Jersey last summer.
of The New York Times stated:“This time it was the ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag, which, like the upside-down American flag, was raised by rioters at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Also known as the Pine Tree Flag, the flag dates back to the Revolutionary War but was largely forgotten until recent years, and now symbolizes support for former President Donald J. Trump, a religious ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign, and a movement to remake American government from a Christian perspective.”
The article followed a Times report a few days earlier that boasted evidence that an “upside-down American flag” had been flying in Alito’s home around the time of the Jan. 6 riot.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post Reported on Saturday A reporter from the paper tried to confront Alito’s wife, Martha Ann Alito, about the flag flying upside down at their Fairfax, Virginia, home on January 21. Alito reportedly told the reporter that the flag was an “international distress signal.”
However, the Post appeared to deny the Times report, saying, “A Post spokesman said the Post decided not to report on the incident at the time because the flag-raising appeared to be the work of Martha Ann Alito, not the judge, and was linked to a dispute with a neighbor. It was not clear at the time whether the dispute was politically rooted, the spokesman said.”
Prominent liberals have argued that Alito’s display of the Pine Tree flag associates him with pro-Trump insurrectionists. On May 22, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Iowa denounced Alito’s flag as a “MAGA battle flag.”
Whitehouse shared the Times article in a post on X, commenting, “Did another neighbor offend Alito’s wife? How many MAGA battle flags does Mr. Alito need to fly to make the Court and Judicial Conference realize there is a problem?”
MSNBC host Chris Hayes said on his show that Alito’s display of both flags “signals a disturbing display of his continued willingness to push back against boundaries as the movement he is clearly part of seeks to destroy our current constitutional order.”
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The liberal media and Democratic Party leaders have used the classic colonial-era “Appeal to Heaven” flag to link Supreme Court Justice Alito to the January 6th rioters. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
But as many conservatives have pointed out in response, the flag represents the values that make up America.
Former Vice President Mike Pence condemned the attack as “absurd” and “ahistorical.” He explained the history of the flag and made it clear that it represents America’s most traditional values.
He wrote in X: “Justice Alito’s controversy over flying the ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag is absurd and ahistorical. The flag was ordered by George Washington in 1775 for use on six cruisers capturing British ships at sea and became the maritime ensign of the State of Massachusetts.”
“The meaning of the flag comes from John Locke,” he added, quoting the famous thinker: “‘Whenever any body of the People, or any individual, should be deprived of any Right, or have Power exercised against them which they have no Right to, and have no Recourse on Earth, they shall, at such time as they shall have a sufficient Cause to Appeal to Heaven’, Second Treatise on Civil Government (1689), John Locke.”
Author and political scientist Dr. Carol Swain defended the flag, posting, “To appeal to heaven is to appeal to God. Why is the left making such a fuss over a Christian flag that symbolizes support for traditional values? Justice Alito and his wife should be commended for their public defense of Judeo-Christian values. The left is willing to lie, steal, and even rob in some cases, for their values.”
The conservative account “@amuse” said that this image Postage stamp 1960s: “BREAKING: Justice Alito’s stamp collection contains this dangerous sedition stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service…”
And conservative activist Logan Dobson shared a 2019 article from far-left media. “Mother Jones” The photo showed an “Appeal to Heaven” flag flying outside San Francisco City Hall that year during the annual Women’s March.
He asked derisively, “How could Sam Alito do this?”
Severino denied the controversy to Fox News Digital.
“Our money says, ‘In God We Trust.’ There’s always been a sense of appeal to God’s grace in America. That’s George Washington, that’s Abraham Lincoln. That’s really the history of our country. You could say, ‘Well, flying the American flag is a political statement.’ Yes. I think it’s a patriotic statement. So it’s a pro-American statement.”
“Of course, judges should not express their opinions or positions on specific cases, but patriotism rarely gets you there,” she added.
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