Just days before Flag Day and the Army’s 250th birthday military parade, a few congressional Democrats—like Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.)—decided to hand out tiny American flags, signaling a sudden shift in how Democrats and the American flag are now being framed.

The Democrats’ Sudden Love Affair With the American Flag

And listen, I love the idea. Truly. Great! Good news. I want every American to feel pride in that flag. I want to see it flying from front porches, clipped to backpacks, waving in parades, and stitched on ball caps. But here’s the thing: you don’t get to ignore it, mock it, burn it, and then suddenly slap it on a press release when the polling turns sour. Patriotism isn’t a rental costume you dust off during campaign season. It’s something you either carry with you or you don’t.

Democrats’ newest approach to win back voters is a fresh embrace of the nation’s oldest symbol.

Two days ahead of Flag Day, when President Donald Trump’s military parade will run through the streets of Washington, Democratic Reps. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) fanned out Thursday afternoon to give a gift to their colleagues to unite them.

[…]

The flags, made in Deluzio’s Pennsylvania, came with a message in an accompanying dear colleague letter written by Ryan, a West Point grad who served two tours in Iraq, and Deluzio, a U.S. Navy officer who was also deployed there. They have joined forces to become co-chairs of the first-ever, 18-member Democratic Veterans Caucus, formed just three days ago.

“Patriotism does not belong to one party,” the letter read. “The flag, and the values it stands for, belong to every single American.” – Politico

Cute. Almost Hallmark-worthy.

Except it’s hard to take this newfound love for Old Glory seriously when it’s the same party that’s spent the last decade treating the American flag like it was radioactive.

These are the people who booed the national anthem, replaced history lessons with “land acknowledgment” rituals, and watched silently as their activist wing waved Mexican flags at protests, pride flags in every classroom, and even Soviet flags at campus rallies. Now they want to pass out tiny flags like it’s a bake sale for unity?

No thanks. We saw the receipts.

A man saves an American flag after a Mexican nationalist attempted to throw it into a burning dumpster at the anti-ICE riot in Seattle.

Antifa militants attacked the man who saved the flag. pic.twitter.com/qTjkjGuPZZ

— Katie Daviscourt (@KatieDaviscourt) June 12, 2025

They Don’t Love the Flag—They Just Hate the Optics

Maybe those Democrats genuinely believe in what they’re doing. I’m just not convinced their constituents won’t torch those flags by nightfall.

This isn’t about patriotism—it’s about optics. You can’t reclaim the American flag when it never stopped belonging to Americans. What Democrats really want is to reclaim how it looks when they’re holding it.

“The timing is very apt, because we’ve now had a senator handcuffed; we’ve had one of my House colleagues charged and now indicted; we’ve had not just the National Guard federalized, but active duty troops deployed against U.S. citizens, and increasingly, Trump, who really is the Republican Party now, their definition of patriotism, is, do you support Trump and MAGA?” Ryan told POLITICO. “And if you don’t, then you’re not patriotic.” – Politico

Does Pat Ryan live in a fantasy land, or is he just auditioning for a one-man show called Crisis of Democracy? He says the timing of his flag stunt was “very apt” because a senator got handcuffed, Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted, and active-duty troops were deployed against U.S. citizens. And somehow, this proves that patriotism now means blind loyalty to Trump.

First of all, Trump is the president, sooooo… yeah, that might be part of it.

Second, the senator was removed for hijacking a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press event. Actions have consequences.

And McIver? She was indicted for allegedly interfering with federal officers at an ICE facility—so unless “no one is above the law” expired with the last news cycle, spare us the melodrama. As for the troops?

As for the troops part? That’s called crowd control, and it isn’t new. We’ve seen presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and even Bush Sr. federalize troops to restore order. Just because it’s happening now doesn’t make it a coup.

Meanwhile, Mexican Flags Are Flying Over Construction Sites

Mexican flags are being hoisted at construction sites across the U.S., and no, that’s not just a cultural celebration. It’s the direct result of Joe Biden spending four years treating border security like a nuisance. The floodgates were opened, enforcement was gutted, and now we’re left with a workforce that shows more allegiance to foreign flags than the one Democrats are suddenly trying to reclaim. You don’t fix that with a press release and a handful of pocket-sized American flags.

So when they start waving Old Glory again and preaching about unity, forgive the rest of us for squinting. Because the flag never disappeared—it was just buried under their own policies.

The Party of Kneeling Now Wants to Salute

The same party that treated “America First” like a hate crime now wants to reclaim patriotism and Old Glory like it ran off with the church offering. When really, they’re the ones who turned their backs and slammed the door behind them. After years of calling the flag divisive, kneeling during the anthem, and letting their activist base treat national pride like a hate offense, they’re hoping a handful of handouts and hashtags will clean the slate. Nice try.

But you don’t get to wave the flag only when it’s politically convenient. That’s not patriotism—that’s PR.

If You Burned the Flag for Likes, You Don’t Get to Wave It for Votes

The American flag doesn’t need reclaiming. It never belonged to a party. It belongs to all Americans. But it’s honored by the ones who still respect what it stands for. Not the ones chanting “Death to America” in the streets. Not the ones tearing down statues or rewriting history to turn the Founding Fathers into villains. The flag still flies for everyone, but it’s defended by those who believe this country, for all its flaws, is worth protecting.

And some of the ones chanting “Death to America” might not even be American citizens. Joe Biden let in a flood of illegals during his time in office. So when foreign flags go up at job sites and anti-American slogans echo at protests, maybe it’s not just bad optics. Maybe it’s exactly what happens when you stop defending your own border and start pretending patriotism is a partisan stunt.

So go ahead, Democrats. Hand out your flags. Pose for your unity photo op. Just keep a fire extinguisher nearby because your base has a history of lighting things on fire.

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