Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R), Monday ordered As President-elect Trump begins his second term in the White House, all state flags will be flown at the inauguration ceremony.
The move would suspend the 30-day half-staff memorial period President Biden instituted to honor the memory of the late President Carter. Biden ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff nationwide until sunset on January 28th. Abbott's order will apply to all flags at the Texas Capitol and state buildings starting Jan. 20.
“Texas continues to mourn the passing of former President Jimmy Carter, along with our fellow citizens across the country,” Abbott said in a statement. “President Carter's steadfast leadership left a lasting legacy that will be felt for generations to come. As a nation, we will honor this accomplishment by flying the flag at half-staff for 30 days.”
“On January 20th, our great nation will celebrate our democratic tradition of transferring power to a new president with the inauguration of Donald J. Trump, the 47th President of the United States,” he continued. . “As we unite our nation and usher in a new era of leadership, I have ordered all flags to be flown at the Texas State Capitol and all statehouses for President Trump’s inauguration. ”
“As we honor the legacy of our former president, we must also celebrate the accomplishments of our next president and the bright future of the United States,” Abbott said.
Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died on December 29 at the age of 100, making him the longest-lived president in American history. Flags were lowered to half-mast in his honor; the white house announced The condition remained in place for 30 days after Carter's death.
Immediately after Carter's death, Trump accused Democrats of being “blindsided” by having the flag flown at half-staff during the 30-day inauguration.
President Trump said on Truth Social on January 3, “Democrats are all 'blindsided' about the possibility of the grand American flag being flown at half-staff at my inauguration.'' spoke. In fact, they don't love our country and only care about themselves. ”
“Nobody wants to see this, no American is going to be happy about this. Let's see what happens,” Trump said, referring to the flag being lowered during the inauguration.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump team for comment.
After Carter's death, President Trump said in a posthumous post that he “strongly disagreed” with Carter “philosophically and politically,” but that the former president “truly loved our country and everything it stands for. He acknowledged that “I respected him.”
