Lindsey Graham Chides Samuel Alito Over Upside-Down American Flag in Front Yard: ‘It’s Not Good Judgment’
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) issued a rare rebuke of a conservative judge on Monday, saying that Justice Samuel Alito exercised poor judgment by having an American flag flying upside-down on his property.
On Thursday, the New York Times published a report featuring a photo of the flag at the Alitos’ home on Jan. 17, 2021. According to the U.S. flag code, the flag should only be displayed that way to indicate “dire distress in instance of extreme danger to life or property.”
The photo was taken three days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration and at a time when the Supreme Court was deliberating on whether to hear a case about the 2020 election, which Donald Trump and his allies falsely claimed was rigged. The court declined to hear the case, with Alito dissenting.
An upside-down U.S. flag became a rallying cry for many Trump supporters, who believed his lie about the election being stolen.
“I had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag,” Alito told the Times in a statement. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs.”
On Monday, Graham addressed the scandal.
“It’s not good judgment to do that,” the senator told Igor Bobic of HuffPost. “He said his wife was insulted and got mad, assume that be true, but he’s still a Supreme Court justice. And, you know, people have to realize that moments like that, to think it through.”
Last week, Alito told Fox News anchor Shannon Bream he and his wife had a verbal dispute with a man in the neighborhood.
“Alito says the man engaged in vulgar language, ‘including the c-word,'” she reported. Some took this to mean he directed the word at Mrs. Alito, though based on Bream’s reporting, the Alitos did not allege he the man used the word in that way.
Bobic spoke with other GOP senators about the report.
“I just don’t understand why you would do that,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said.
“It suggests a partisan take,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) stated.
