Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday appeared to attack U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s wife by characterizing a flag she allegedly displayed as “insurrectionist symbology.”
Martha-Ann Alito allegedly displayed an upside-down American flag and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag outside of homes the couple own, both of which The New York Times claimed were associated with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Host John Berman asked Buttigieg on “CNN News Central” how he feels about Martha-Ann saying in a secret recording that she wants to “send … a message” to people flying Pride flags by flying a Christian flag, with the secretary drawing a contrast seeming to criticize the Supreme Court justice’s wife.
“Look, I’m often reminded that the most important thing in my life, which is my marriage and my family and the two beautiful children that my husband Chasten and I are raising, that that marriage only exists by the grace of a single vote on the United States Supreme Court that expanded our rights and freedoms back in 2015 and made it possible for somebody like me to get married,” Buttigieg said. “And Supreme Court justices have an unbelievable amount of power and by the nature and the structure of the Supreme Court, there’s no supervision over that power.”
WATCH:
Buttigieg Takes Veiled Shot At Samuel Alito’s Wife By Smearing Patriotic Flag As ‘Insurrectionist Symbology’ pic.twitter.com/0kb1hPodqg
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 12, 2024
“They are entrusted with it literally for as long as they live and part of that trust is we expect them to enter into those enormously consequential decisions that shape our everyday lives with a sense of fairness. I also hope that most Americans can understand the difference between a flag that symbolizes love and acceptance and signals to people who have sometimes feared for their safety that they’re gonna be okay, and insurrectionist symbology. I’ll just leave it at that,” he added.
Alito said in May that neither he nor his wife had knowledge of the “Appeal to Heaven” flag’s relationship to the “Stop the Steal Movement.” George Washington commissioned the flag and it was flown during the American Revolution.
“The use of an old historic flag by a new group does not necessarily drain that flag of all other meanings,” Alito added.
Featured Image Credit: Screenshot/Grabien/CNN
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