Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton defended Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's right to fly flags that Democrats have associated with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol.
After it was reported last week that an American flag was photographed hanging upside down at Alito's Virginia home weeks after the Jan. 6 protests, The New York Times reported Wednesday that an "appeal to heaven" flag, carried by some demonstrators during the Capitol attack, was displayed outside Alito's New Jersey beach vacation home last summer.
The origin of the "appeal to heaven" flag dates to the Revolutionary War.
Bolton, appearing on CNN, was asked if the flags raised concerns that Alito could serve impartially on the Supreme Court.
"Absolutely not," Bolton told host Wolf Blitzer. "I think it is outrageous, outrageous and unacceptable, for people to take a flag from the American Revolution and say that because some Jan. 6 protesters flew it, that it's now unacceptable to fly that flag, and I'd like to hear a Democratic Party politician say that expressly.
"The Jan. 6 people flew a lot of flags. The Gadsden flag, 'Don't Tread on Me.' They don't have the right or the ability to expropriate a patriotic symbol of the United States, and then have everybody else say it belongs to them and condemn Sam Alito or anybody else for flying that flag.
"I think what's unacceptable is this rush to find some reason to criticize Alito."
Blitzer told Bolton, a harsh critic of former President Donald Trump, that flags now have political implications to certain groups.
"They do not. That's just wrong. That is just wrong," the former national security adviser said. "They don't have political implications to me."
Blitzer said Alito's flag flying is "controversial" because the flags were carried by attackers on Jan. 6.
"It's controversial for liberals who have it in for Sam Alito. It's not controversial for me, and I'm as against Donald Trump as anybody I know in this country," Bolton said.
More than three dozen House Democrats on Tuesday released a letter calling on Alito to recuse himself from any future cases involving the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
"He should certainly not recuse himself," Bolton told Blitzer. "There's no indication that it [the flags] was intended to express any support for January the 6th. And I'll tell you, those who are using this tactic against Alito now, it will come back to haunt them."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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