A Democratic Florida state Cabinet official is refusing to lower flags to half-staff to honor the late conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, calling the order a “partisan political tool.”
After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered flags across his state to be lowered in honor of Limbaugh, who died on Wednesday after a battle with lung cancer, some Florida Democrats are refusing at the state and local level, telling staff to disregard such a request by the governor.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a state Cabinet member, told her offices on Monday to disregard the order to lower flags for Limbaugh.
“Lowering to half-staff the flag of the United States of America is a sacred honor that pays respect to fallen heroes and patriots. It is not a partisan political tool,” Fried said in a statement. “We will not celebrate hate speech, bigotry, and division. … Lowering the flag should always reflect unity, not division and raising our standards, not lowering them.”
Oakland Park Mayor Jane Bolin also criticized the request by DeSantis and called upon other municipal officials to ignore the gesture.
“Once we cross that divide and say, ‘Well, I’m going to say Rush Limbaugh is a prominent citizen, and I’m going to lower the flag’ … to me, it just adds more to this political theater and is not what our country needs right now,” Bolin said.
Compliance with the order would diminish the dignity of the national flag, Bolin added.
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St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman said his city would also not be taking part in lowering flags for Limbaugh and would instead honor the life of a local fallen deputy officer by holding a vigil.
“Not lowering flags for Rush. In St. Pete we don’t honor hatred, racism, bigotry, homophobia, or anything else he has spewed over the years,” Kriseman said in a tweet.
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey said that he hasn’t made the decision on whether to comply with DeSantis’s order.
“I know that lowering the flag to half-staff is something citizens take seriously,” Dailey said. “I know in the state of Florida, we do it to honor national leaders, military leaders, and great Floridians, so we are researching our policies and procedures.”
Christian Ziegler, the vice chairman of the Florida Republican Party, argued that the opposition against lowering the flags was politically motivated and applauded the request by DeSantis.
“Recognizing a Floridian who was a pioneer in radio, and was even awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor” is the right thing to do, Ziegler said.
DeSantis made the announcement to lower flags on Friday, calling Limbaugh the “greatest of all time” in radio and conservative media.
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The U.S. Flag Code gives governors the authority to direct flags at half-staff following the death of a state official, politician, member of the armed forces, or a first responder. Over the years, the code has been modified, and typically, there is no enforcement regarding the lowering of flags.
John Folsom, the District Two Chaplain for the American Legion in Tallahassee, said DeSantis is within his right to order the lowering of the flag for Limbaugh, but to make it fair, he might consider doing so again if there’s a prominent death across the political aisle.
“What would make it seem fair with the other half of the people in the state is if the governor exercised that same discretion at a future date, a future situation that might be for a different political party,” Folsom told WCTV.
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Limbaugh’s eponymous radio show was first nationally syndicated in 1988 in New York City, and he rose to the highest-rated talk show in the U.S.
Days after announcing his cancer diagnosis, Limbaugh was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Donald Trump in his 2020 State of the Union address.
He died at the age of 70 at his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he has broadcast his show since 1996.
