Search

Home > Morning Joe > Only For Thee, The Flag Will Remain High: President Trump Begrudgingly Lowers White House Flag for John McCain, Says Media Coverage of Death was 'Over the Top'


	Podcast:		Morning Joe
	Episode:		Only For Thee, The Flag Will Remain High: President Trump Begrudgingly Lowers White House Flag for John McCain, Says Media Coverage of Death was 'Over the Top'
	Category:		News & Politics
	Duration:		01:29:18
	Publish Date:		2018-08-28 07:20:33
	Description:		Yesterday morning, a farewell letter from Senator John McCain was released to the public and press -- detailing his affinity for the country he had served for the better part of 60 years and instilling a sense of hope rarely touched upon in the current political atmosphere. The statement read, in part, "I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world's greatest republic...We have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement...Do not despair of our present difficulties..." Senators on both sides of the aisle came together, yesterday, to remember and to pay tribute to Senator McCain; in addition, 18 members of the current administration separately paid their own respects to McCain. The White House and President Trump came under fire, over the weekend, when the White House flag was seen at full-staff, breaking from the city-wide norm of paying respect toward Senator McCain by lowering the flag to half-staff. The move by the President was seen by many journalists as a stubborn attempt to thrust himself back into the media's spotlight, taking away from the "over the top" coverage of McCain's death. Up until yesterday, President Trump had ignored multiple pleas from his inner circle to offer condolences to the POW. However, following a scathing dissent from the American Legion and mounting pressure from his colleagues, the President relented and lowered the flag back to half-staff, Monday afternoon. When questioned by the press about the decision and his personal sympathies toward McCain's passing, President Trump chose to ignore reporters on three separate occasions. Also making headlines, from yesterday: President Trump also announced his latest iteration of NAFTA yesterday with a translated phone call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, calling it the "United States-Mexico Trade Agreement." During the call, President Trump attempted to buff out Canada from the deal, much to the dismay and disagreement of Peña Nieto, but eventually conceded that a separate trade deal with Canada may be possible. It's Tuesday, August 28, 2018. Welcome to Morning Joe.
	Total Play:		0