Despite Long-Standing Tradition, Texas Gov. Abbott Orders Flags to Full-Staff for Trump's Inauguration

To observe President Jimmy Carter's death, President Joe Biden ordered that all United States flags on all federal installations be flown at half-mast for 30 days. On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered that on Inauguration Day, January 20th, all flags on buildings, facilities, and installations belonging to the state of Texas be raised to full mast to mark the event.

It's an interesting move.

On Monday, Governor Greg Abbott ordered that all flags at the Texas Capitol and other state buildings will be raised to full-staff on Jan. 20, 2025.
Donald Trump will be sworn in for his second term as president in Washington D.C. on that Monday.
Gov. Abbott's announcement cited a federal statute which says the flag should be displayed on all days, including Inauguration Day.
The president-elect has spoken out against the idea of flags being at half-staff for his inauguration.

The reason for this seems obvious: Flying the flag at half-staff is a sign of mourning and is traditionally done at the death of a president. This tradition started in 1799 with the death of George Washington, when the Navy Department ordered all ships to fly their flags at half-staff to mark the death of our first president. President Dwight Eisenhower codified the tradition with a presidential proclamation in 1954. So, Biden's directive is not unique or unusual; it follows the normal form for events around the death of a former president.

The National Flag Foundation describes the half-staff tradition as well as the number of days for various government officials and certain days of observance:

30 days upon the death of the President or a former President.
10 days upon the death of the Vice President or the speaker of the House of Representatives.
On the day of death and the following day for a member of Congress.
Peace Officers Memorial Day: From sunrise to sunset.
Memorial Day: From sunrise to noon.
Korean War Veterans Day: From sunrise to sunset.
Patriot Day: From sunrise to sunset.
National Firefighters Memorial Day: From sunrise to sunset.
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day: From sunrise to sunset.

Governor Abbott's concern may well be that the left will conflate the symbology of commemorating the death of one president with the inauguration of another, and, in all candor, some on the left will certainly try to make that comparison. The president-elect certainly is; he took to his Truth Social platform to express that view:

President-elect Trump's full post reads:

The Democrats are all “giddy” about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at “half mast” during my Inauguration. They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves. Look at what they’ve done to our once GREAT America over the past four years - It’s a total mess! In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

This has happened once before: Flags were at half-mast to mark the death of former President Harry Truman when Richard Nixon was inaugurated for his second term in 1973.

Here's the question: Should the concerns over the propagandization of this observance by the left take precedence over a tradition of respect for the office of the President of the United States, specifically the death of a former president? This is a tradition that began with our very first president and continues today. Now, given the non-stop vitriol and demonization that the left daily hurls at President-elect Trump, it's understandable why Governor Abbott would seek, at least in Texas, to deprive them of a propaganda tool. But is he giving them too much? Is this a gesture of respect for the incoming president or just fending off propaganda from the left? President-elect Trump is right to point out that this will be misread by the left, probably deliberately. Yes, this will be used as a propaganda tool against the incoming president, even though its use as such is a canard; there is no connection between the observance of a 200+-year-old tradition on the death of a president and the inauguration of another president.

Governors do, of course, have the authority to order these kinds of observations at the state level, and not just for the deaths of government officials.

It's an interesting question. Greg Abbott is, in my not-very-humble estimation, one of the nation's better governors. I can see why he would order this move; I can also see why he may have declined to do so. Were I in his position, I'm not sure what I would have done.