White House lowers flag after criticism
President breaks two-day silence on McCain’s death
White House officials again lowered the American flag atop the building to half-staff Monday afternoon after intense criticism of the administration’s response to Sen. John McCain’s death, and bipartisan calls from Congress to lower the flag.
“Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment,” President Donald Trump wrote, breaking his two-day silence on the Republican senator from Arizona.
The president also said he had requested that Vice President Mike Pence speak at Capitol Hill services honoring McCain on Friday, and Chief of Staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Ambassador John Bolton to represent his administration at the funeral. And he said he had authorized military assistance for the funeral and burial.
Trump was not invited to the funeral. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush are scheduled to deliver eulogies.
The move on Monday afternoon came after White House officials had raised the flag earlier in the day, and Trump ignored almost a dozen shouted questions about McCain while White House staffers convulsed over his reaction.
Trump has blocked efforts to release a statement honoring McCain and calling him a “hero,” instead expressing condolences to McCain’s family via Twitter on Saturday night — until he released the statement Monday afternoon.
U.S. code calls for flags to be lowered in the event of the death of a member of Congress “on the day of death and the following day.” But presidents have the power to issue proclamations extending that period, and have done so routinely.
Senate l eaders had sought to have flags remain at half-staff until Sunday, when McCain, a former Navy pilot, is scheduled to be buried in the cemetery on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
On Monday morning, flags at the U.S. Capitol, where McCain served two terms in the House and six terms in the Senate, remained at half-staff. Congressional aides said they expect that the tribute there will continue.
Presidential historian Michael Beschloss called the fully raised flags at the White House earlier Monday “sickening” during an appearance on MSNBC. Conservative commentator Bill Kristol, meanwhile, wrote on Twitter: “The White House is now an island of bitterness and resentment in a nation united in respect and appreciation.” Others on Twitter responded using the hashtag #NoRespect.
The American Legion, a veterans organization, also called on Trump to treat McCain with more reverence.
“On behalf of The American Legion’s two million The White House flag flies at half-staff Monday after President Trump signed a proclamation honoring Sen. John McCain and ordering the flag be lowered until his burial. wartime veterans, I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain’s death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation’s flag be half-staffed through his internment,” Denise Rohan, the group’s national commander, said in a statement.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that Trump had rejected the advice of top aides who advocated for an official statement that gave the decorated Vietnam War POW plaudits for his military and Senate service and called him a hero.
Marc Short, Trump’s for- mer legislative director, said the president faced “a little bit of a situation of a Catch-22” when deciding how to respond to McCain’s death.
“If the president put out a flowery statement about John McCain’s life, the media would criticize it and say it’s not consistent with the other things he’s said in the past, and it would become a story about the president,” Short said during an appearance on CNN.
Several White House aides echoed Short, saying Trump was in a no-win situation and vetoed a statement partly because he didn’t want to seem disingenuous. “Everyone knows we don’t like each other,” the president said, according to one senior White House official.
In death, McCain himself had more to say. In a final letter released Monday, McCain appeared to repudiate Trump’s politics one last time, saying: “We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe.”