Newsom Joins GOP Governors With Surprising Show Of Respect For President Trump

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Within the rudderless Democratic Party, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is clearly trying to position himself as its next leader.

Amid wildfires that continue to sweep across the state and mounting criticism of his policies, however, his reputation even among leftists has taken a huge blow in recent weeks.

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, however, Newsom recently made an announcement that could earn him at least a little bit of praise from the right.

According to Fox News:

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom will temporarily raise the American Flag at the state Capitol to full height on Inauguration Day next week, joining a handful of GOP governors and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson in the decision.

Newsom’s press office confirmed the decision to Fox News Digital on Wednesday night.

Following tradition, flags at the U.S. Capitol and state buildings across the country are flying at half-staff because of the death of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29, 2024.

Flags temporarily raised to full height will return to half-staff on Jan. 21 for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period, which ends on Jan. 28 – eight days after President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office.

As of Thursday morning, Newsom is the only Democratic governor to issue the directive, which comes as Southern California is ravaged by catastrophic wildfires.

Similar decisions were recently made by Idaho Gov. Brad Little, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott – all of whom are Republicans.

Here are some similar statements by state and federal GOP leaders:

In addition to flags at the Capitol, USA Today listed the eight states that, as of Wednesday, had ordered flags to fly at full staff on Monday:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was one of the first governors to order that flags be raised to full-staff on Inauguration Day, with him claiming that his decision follows a federal statute stating that the U.S. flag to be displayed “especially on … Inauguration Day, January 20.”

“While we honor the service of a former President, we must also celebrate the service of an incoming President and the bright future ahead for the United States of America,” Abbott said in a news release on Monday.

Other governors followed suit, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds all ordering that flags be raised for the incoming president. Flags in Oklahoma have already been raised for about a week as Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt only ordered flags on state property to remain at half-staff until Jan. 9, the day of Carter’s state funeral.

Here’s some additional coverage of Abbott’s order:



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