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Trump Set to Honor Coronavirus Victims with Flags at Half Mast

The gesture comes after a bipartisan agreement that such an honor was in order.

We are approaching a harrowing and horrid milestone in this coronavirus crisis, as American deaths looks poised to top 100,000 in the coming days.

The good news is that these deaths are slowing, at least for now, on account of our social distancing habits, but the virus’ 14-day incubation period means that there are certainly still some cases to come.  And that doesn’t even take into account the expected mini-surge to come as several states and locales begin to reopen their economies.

As this first waves commences, President Trump now plans to honor those who’ve lost their lives with a dramatic national display. 

U.S. government buildings, military posts and embassies will fly the flag at half-staff through Memorial Day weekend in memory of the nearly 100,000 people who have died of COVID-19, President Trump announced Thursday night. The decision comes after Democratic leaders in Congress sent a letter to the president requesting the gesture.

“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,” Trump said via Twitter.

Flags will be lowered from Friday through Sunday’s sunset. Trump added that flags will again be flown at half-staff on Monday to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.

And while some on Twitter used the occasion to predictably “resist” Trump’s order, they failed to recognize that this was a bipartisan concept.

The presidential proclamation came after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent Trump a letter asking him to order that flags be flown at half-staff on all public buildings on what they called “a sad day of reckoning” — when the U.S. marks 100,000 deaths.

“It would serve as a national expression of grief so needed by everyone in our country,” they wrote.

 

 

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