When the Internet Made Fun of Donald Trump for ‘Making Out’ With the American Flag in 2020

Following his entrance onto the stage at the CPAC 2020 to deliver his keynote address, former President Donald Trump embraced the American flag. One Twitter user shared at the time, "The guy making out with the American flag here is the same one who drove entire news cycles in 2017 by relentlessly attacking NFL players for not respecting it." In the video, he affectionately stroked and kissed the American flag on stage and murmured, 'I love you, baby'.

Many on social media vehemently ridiculed the action. One user mockingly wrote, "Melania prolly like: Better you than me flag." A second one commented, "The flag was asking for it. Completely unfurled and wearing those sexy gold tassels...come on." A third one added, "Yeah.. the respect level of flag wavers baffles me. Worn out, torn, flying in the night, on car antennas, being molested!" A fourth wrote, "Ok, thats new. Ive never felt uncomfortable on behalf of an inanimate object before." Additionally, one of the Trump supporters wrote, "Number one goal in life: Find someone who loves you as much as President Trump loves this gorgeous flag."

Similarly, Trump made one of his signature lengthy entrances this year in February before his Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) address. However, he was unable to control himself and attempted to kiss the American flag, as he had done numerous times in the past. In 2018, Trump executed a comparable action by approaching the flag slowly and holding it in a frigid grasp while keeping his arms wide open and a broad grin on his face. He encircled the flag in his small hands and arms on at least two additional occasions during the 2016 campaign trail. Once, he augmented the embrace with a creepy light jolt. 

Notably, Trump has consistently expressed his strong conviction regarding the importance of honoring the American Flag. During a speech in Alabama in 2017, the aforementioned former president launched a scandalous attack against NFL players who kneeled in protest of the national anthem. As reported by The Guardian, Trump said during a rally at the time, "Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’. You know, some owner is going to do that. He’s going to say, ‘That guy that disrespects our flag, he’s fired.’ And that owner, they don’t know it [but] they’ll be the most popular person in this country."

Subsequently, Trump urged NFL game attendees to vacate the stadium in counter-protest should they observe a player kneeling during the national anthem, an NFL tradition preceding kickoff. He continued, "But do you know what’s hurting the game more than that? When people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when they’re playing our great national anthem. The only thing you could do better is if you see it, even if it’s one player, leave the stadium. I guarantee things will stop. Things will stop. Just pick up and leave. Pick up and leave. Not the same game anymore, anyway."