Display at Trump’s National Mall State Fair Sparks Controversy

A display at Washington, D.C.’s Great American State Fair has been taken down after an “unapproved image” drew criticism from some fairgoers.

CNN’s Gabe Cohen said the dustup occurred over an image of the Confederate flag at the booth representing North Carolina.

“People who were here attending the state fair were surprised yesterday when they walked into that booth, into the North Carolina pavilion, and found that there were images of a Confederate flag projected on multiple screens,” Cohen said, continuing:

I will tell you, North Carolina is one of the states that did not send official representatives. Their booth is actually being run by several companies from North Carolina. And I spoke to a spokesperson for the pavilion who told me that they became aware of an unapproved image in a video that was displayed inside the pavilion on Friday. And they said, quote, “As soon as we were made aware, we immediately removed the video and began reviewing how it occurred.” So we still don’t know how that image ended up there, but it certainly speaks to some of the concerns that people have over this event.

And again, we we still don’t know how that picture ended up in the North Carolina pavilion, but we were in there a little earlier…and it clearly has been taken down at this point, but even the governor’s office in North Carolina immediately put out a statement and said, “This is not the North Carolina that we love and we represent.” They had called Freedom 250, the organization that put this together, demanded that be taken off the screens. It seems, though, that the companies inside were already notified and they were working to get it taken down.

The Confederate flag was first reported by Spectrum News’s Reuben Jones, who wrote Friday, “I stopped by the North Carolina booth at the ‘Great American State Fair’ on the National Mall today. The state decided not to participate because of the high costs so the booth is sponsored by private orgs.”

In an update, Spectrum News’s Melody Kloepfer wrote that a booth spokesperson said the image was “unapproved.”

“As soon as we were made aware, we immediately removed the video and began reviewing how it occurred. Our focus remains on celebrating America’s 250th birthday and NC’s role in our nation’s history,” the spokesperson said.

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