CNN dedicated a brief segment to “flag hugger-in-chief” Donald Trump at the end of Erin Burnett’s show Tuesday night. The segment centered on the president’s hugging of the American flag Saturday on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland.
WATCH:
“Ever since the flag hugger-in-chief did this the other day — the president holding and murmuring sweet nothings to the stars and stripes, has led to strife,” Jeanne Moos stated. “But one man’s grope is another’s patriotic caress of old glory, which the White House glorified, by tweeting a photo captioned ‘America!’ And Donald Trump Jr. instagrammed, ‘Oh hell yes.'”
Moos proceeded to read tweets in favor of the hug from unverified Twitter users.
The segment then cut to a clip of Stephen Colbert’s show from Monday in which he ran a spoof commercial for people who are “physically attracted to flags,” featuring Trump. Following that, CNN showed a clip from Jimmy Kimmel’s show about Trump’s embrace. (RELATED: Trump At CPAC 2018: ‘We Salute Our Great American Flag’)
US President Donald Trump hugs the US flag as he arrives to speak at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, on March 2, 2019. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
Moos concluded:
In real life you can buy actually vinyl stickers of the presidential flag embrace as well as posters. But some would rather unsee it. Someone else turned it into a sail that’s capsizing a boat. Critics pointed out that President Trump isn’t the only flag loving leader. That’s Venezuela’s former leader Hugo Chavez planting a smooch on his flag. Snuggling with the stars and strikes is nothing new. President Trump is a serial flag hugger. He’s done it around half a dozen times. But at least he’s consistent. He only locks his arms around the American flag.