Pres Trump Just Outfoxed Schumer and Pelosi in His Reply to Flag-Lowering Letter

By Becca Lower | 8:45 PM on May 21, 2020

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Early on Thursday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) dropped what Democrats probably thought was a brilliant move on the White House: a letter requesting that President Donald Trump order flags be flown at half staff on public buildings once the United States death toll for COVID-19 reaches 100,000 people.

As RedState’s Mike Miller shared in a piece Thursday night, there were a limited number of reasons why the Democrat leadership would send a missive like that. He opined that they could, in earnest, be trying to honor Americans who’ve succumbed to the Wuhan coronavirus. The most unlikely of the three scenarios he laid out, if I’m being honest. The other two – that ol’ Chuck and Nancy are trying to use dead bodies to hurt the president politically – seems right up their alley.

Now, Pres. Trump has tweeted out an answer that manages to outfox Schumer and Pelosi in the process:

I will be lowering the flags on all Federal Buildings and National Monuments to half-staff over the next three days in memory of the Americans we have lost to the CoronaVirus….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2020

….On Monday, the flags will be at half-staff in honor of the men and women in our Military who have made the Ultimate Sacrifice for our Nation.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2020

He wrote:

I will be lowering the flags on all Federal Buildings and National Monuments to half-staff over the next three days in memory of the Americans we have lost to the CoronaVirus. On Monday, the flags will be at half-staff in honor of the men and women in our Military who have made the Ultimate Sacrifice for our Nation.

A quick glance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website shows that, as of Thursday, May 21, the U.S. has suffered 93,061 deaths from the Chinese coronavirus — up about 1,400 from Wednesday. So, it looks like the president, instead of playing a political numbers game like Pelosi and Schumer seem to be, is reminding Americans what this weekend is about: honoring Americans, period.