The Biden White House is continuing to face widespread backlash over its display of a massive pride flag over the weekend, with veterans now lashing out at the decision to feature the rainbow flag front and center rather than the American flag.
As reported by the New York Post, the “pride month” celebration over the weekend included the massive rainbow flag hanging down from the White House facade overlooking the South Lawn, flanked on each side by the American flag. Biden’s Twitter account posted a photo from on the White House balcony looking up at the pride flag, saying “Today, the People’s House – your house – sends a clear message to the country and to the world. America is a nation of pride.”
But critics were quick to point out that the display was in violation of the U.S. Flag Code, which dictates that the American flag must be “at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.”
Chad Robichaux, a Marine veteran who led a private effort to evacuate Americans in the aftermath of the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, commented that “you would think the White House knows this. They do, they just don’t care.”
“The American flag is the symbol of freedom and equality for every skin color, every (legal) sexual preference, no social group needs another flag,” Robichaux continued. “If every group could understand what the American flag truly represents, it would not be a divisive thing.”
“I question the utility of my combat sacrifices when the Commander in Chief determines the American flag should acquiesce to another symbol of pride,” said Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, a former Marine who was infamously relieved of his duties in August of 2021 after criticizing the Afghanistan withdrawal.
“As a third generation US Military Veteran, it hurts my heart to see that the American flag, which has stood proudly for 246 years, has been relegated to second place,” said Mark Geist, one of the Marines who fought at the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya during the attack by Islamic terrorists on September 11th, 2012. “The millions of Americans that have served under this flag, and the hundreds of thousands of Americans that have given their last full measure to defend this flag, have all been disrespected by this action.”
The events over the weekend featured numerous pro-LGBTQ speakers and performers, and also drew condemnation for Biden’s declaration that homosexuals and transgenders are “some of the bravest and most inspiring people I’ve ever known.”