Conservative political pundit Tomi Lahren is known for being outspoken about right-wing issues: We’ve seen her criticize government-funded subsidies for birth control (with little indication she knows how much it costs) and come out against allowing military members who are transgender to serve their country. Lately, she’s used her platform to criticize athletes who choose to take a knee when the national anthem is sung at their sporting events. In a monologue on Fox in September, Lahren said that those who chose to kneel to protest the oppression of people of color were doing it for the attention. As part of her argument, she cited the flag as a living symbol of what it means to be American and implied that those who kneel were unpatriotic.
With all this talk about the sacredness of the American flag, it’s not entirely surprising that Lahren faced a lot of backlash on Twitter when she stepped out on Halloween dressed in full flag gear. The criticism didn’t necessarily come from conservatives—whose comments were largely supportive—but liberals, who flagged (ha) her apparent hypocrisy.
In case it’s been a while since you were in the Scouts, the U.S. Code dealing with “respect for the flag” says that “No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform.” (It also mentions that the flag shouldn’t be used for “printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard.” Granted, this is in a section dealing with advertising purposes, but Halloween costumes are nothing if not for temporary use.)
Here is her Make America Great Again/flag costume, complete with a charming caption:
Conservative Twitter was very excited about seeing her wearing all sorts of flag regalia.
The president’s son even weighed in, typically tactfully and eloquently:
https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/924693159220862976
Et cetera, TBH.
But others on Twitter came for it:
https://twitter.com/barefootboomer/status/924485425410052097
https://twitter.com/JenAshleyWright/status/924521275275530240
Jezebel really honed in with what honestly felt like the most important fashion take on the issue: “Tomi Lahren’s Fannypack Is a National Abomination.”
Lahren clapped back with some legal code that she apparently got by Googling “wearing the flag”:
When we did a quick check, we got a whole range of answers from different sources. Although her response makes some sense—yeah, it’s probably not great to turn an actual flag into a Halloween costume—the aforementioned section of the code does mention that it shouldn’t be printed on anything meant for temporary use, which would presumably include fabric used for a costume. I don’t know, though; I’m just a former high-school debater, not an actual legal expert.
So, like many sections of the law, it probably depends on how broadly or narrowly you read into it. If you feel strongly about it, you should definitely check with a lawyer well versed on flag law. Or, you know, find a less controversial Halloween costume.
Related Stories:
–Tomi Lahren Seems to Have No Idea What Birth Control Actually Costs
–Why Tomi Lahren Doesn’t Need Your Pity
–J.K. Rowling Had the Perfect Response to Tomi Lahren’s Anti-Trans Tweets
