Twitter users are defending Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton after Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich attempted to jab her Thursday night for a supposed lack of patriotism ― all because she wasn’t wearing an American flag pin on her lapel.
In a series of replies to Pavlich’s tweet, Daily Beast senior news editor Ben Collins posted screenshots of four male Republican presidential nominees at their own party conventions in years past ― George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, John McCain and Bob Dole. None of them wore flag pins, either.
Other users ridiculed Pavlich, noting the huge American flag on stage.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump likewise tried to score points this week over what he called the “pathetic” lack of patriotic regalia at the Democratic convention.
On Wednesday, the North Carolina GOP mocked Clinton’s running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), for supposedly wearing a Honduran flag pin during his nomination acceptance speech. It turned out to be a Blue Star service pin honoring Kaine’s son, a Marine.
Ironically, many Republicans were impressed, surprised and even envious of the patriotic themes shown at this week’s Democratic convention, leaving them to wonder if the Democratic Party might be the new GOP.
“Running for president is an act of patriotism,” the political analyst Mark Plotkin wrote last year in a blog post for The Hill. “For political consumption, it is not required to affix the flag pin on your clothes. The life you have led, the acts you have performed, the things you say and believe in: That’s how you should be viewed and judged.”
