The White House press secretary on Tuesday appeared unwilling to answer questions about whether or not the U.S. Flag Code was violated during a recent Pride Month event.
“There’s been some criticism also of the White House, the flag placement, the Pride flag violating the U.S. Flag Code. Did anybody notice that or fail to notice that, or was it an intentional statement? Just explain what happened,” a reporter asked Karine Jean-Pierre.
Jean-Pierre told her that President Joe Biden’s (D) administration was “proud” to display the Pride flag, calling it a “historic event at the White House.”
She continued:
It is centered around love and family, and I think that’s important. So, we’re not going to let anyone distract us from that, what was the meaning of the day, what was the meaning of having families here and to celebrate a community. I’m certainly not going to get into protocols from here or… I’ll leave that to others.
The administration received significant backlash for the display at the White House on Saturday that appeared to disrespect the American flag while celebrating the LGBTQ community, Breitbart News reported Monday.
At the event, flags displayed on the White House featured a Pride flag with two American flags beside it.
Conservatives blasted the administration for the display. Meanwhile, another image the White House posted shows an American flag on the roof of the White House, above the other three flags.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton shared his thoughts on the flag display in a social media post, writing, “To advance revolutionary transgender agenda targeting children, Biden violates basic tenet of US Flag Code and disrespects every American service member buried under its colors.”
He later posted a link to the U.S. Flag Code which says, “The flag of the United States of America should 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.” [Emphasis added.]
Some Biden supporters claimed the American flag was flying above the decorative flags, but one social media user contradicted those claims by stating, “Not at all, it is still a violation. The bottom set of flags is considered a separate display.”
During the briefing at the White House on Tuesday, Jean-Pierre concluded by saying, “We’re proud of this historic event that we were able to put together here on the South Lawn for families. So, I’ll leave it there.”