White House flag back at full staff less than 48 hours after John McCain’s death
The White House broke protocol Monday morning by returning the American flag to full staff before the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was buried.
The flag was flown at half-staff to mark the passing Saturday of the 81-year-old McCain after a battle with brain cancer, but was flying high the following day.
President Donald Trump frequently attacked and insulted McCain, one of his sharpest Republican critics, and reportedly objected to issuing a White House statement praising the senator’s life.
Flags are typically flown at half-staff on a president’s executive order until the day of internment, which is scheduled for Sunday at the Naval Academy.
McCain will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol and Arizona State Capitol, and memorial services will be held in Phoenix and Washington.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politic...ho-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/
Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’
The president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades, multiple sources tell The Atlantic.
Trump remained fixated on McCain, one of the few prominent Republicans to continue criticizing him after he won the nomination. When McCain died, in August 2018, Trump told his senior staff, according to three sources with direct knowledge of this event, “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,” and he became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. “What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser,” the president told aides. Trump was not invited to McCain’s funeral. (These sources, and others quoted in this article, spoke on condition of anonymity. The White House did not return earlier calls for comment, but Alyssa Farah, a White House spokesperson, emailed me this statement shortly after this story was posted: “This report is false. President Trump holds the military in the highest regard. He’s demonstrated his commitment to them at every turn: delivering on his promise to give our troops a much needed pay raise, increasing military spending, signing critical veterans reforms, and supporting military spouses. This has no basis in fact.”)