Media’s Latest Attempt at Dragging ‘Appeal to Heaven’ Flag Through the Mud Does Not Go Well – RedState

The mainstream media loves to manufacture non-controversies, something we saw, for example, in the New York Times’ 2024 hit stories about Justice Samuel Alito’s wife, Martha, for briefly flying the American flag upside down in their home, and for flying the “Call to Heaven” flag at their New Jersey beach house in the summer of 2023.

In the article about the “Call to Heaven” flag, the authors made sure to do the same thing as in the stories about the inverted flag: “link” it to the events of January 6, 2021, and Christian nationalism.

“Also known as the Pine Flag, it dates back to the Revolutionary War but was largely forgotten until recent years,” the Times proclaimed, “and is now a symbol of support for former President Donald J. Trump, a religious component of the ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign and a push to remake American government in Christian terms.”

SEE ALSO: ‘Completely stupid’: The New York Times was blown to smithereens after another crazy ‘flag’ hit by Justice Samuel Alito

Astute readers will no doubt notice that the “largely fallen into obscurity” part of that sentence the Times did a lot of work trying to make this point, something we’ll return to in a minute.

But first, let’s take a look at the latest incarnation of this tedious narrative, which this time involves not the wife of a current conservative Supreme Court justice, but rather a Trump administration official at the Department of Education who is now being exposed by a USA Today reporter for the apparent crime of displaying one of these flags outside his office.

In his since-deleted tweet, USA Today’s congressional reporter Zach Schermele flatly described the flag as a “Christian nationalist” flag, but after a wave of backlash and attempts to educate him on the flag’s history, he revised it to state that “this flag is more accurately described as a ‘symbol associated with Christian nationalism.’

I deleted my initial tweet. This flag is more accurately described as a “symbol associated with Christian nationalism”. ⁰⁰Please read our full story with relevant context here: https://t.co/M09yfxqGf6 pic.twitter.com/IBcXCim0GC

-Zach Schermele (@ZachSchermele) December 16, 2025

“It is unclear how long the banner has hung outside the office of Murray Bessette, the principal deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, in Washington,” the report notes after also linking the flag, which it briefly highlights. was “long linked to the American Revolution” to the “Proud Boys and certain neo-Nazi groups”.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was one of several X members who mocked USA Today for its biased reporting on the “Call to Heaven” flag:

We won’t do this anymore. We will not let left-wing media ignoring American history demonize a patriotic flag dating back to the Revolutionary War and the Continental Navy.

I’m proud to have it in front of my desk! https://t.co/Jy8B8fpc2m pic.twitter.com/MFtTo5A8t6

-Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) December 15, 2025

Not only was the Pine Tree flag commissioned by George Washington; his phrase, “an appeal to heaven,” comes from John Locke’s Second Treatise, the founding text of political liberalism. https://t.co/4KYqopJBaM

– Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) December 16, 2025

Oooh what a scoop! An education official flies the same patriotic Revolutionary War flag that George Washington commanded and a Supreme Court justice flew outside his home. I smell a Pulitzer. https://t.co/r4UJ8C9YCP

— Marc Thiessen 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇦🇹🇼🇮🇱 (@marcthiessen) December 16, 2025

This flag was commissioned by George Washington.

But hey, while you’re at it, how many federal employees have Palestinian flags in their offices? Just curious. https://t.co/aAjRRkbD4S

-Angela Morabito (@AngelaLMorabito) December 15, 2025

And as for the whole “falling largely into obscurity” thing, well… no, that wasn’t the case:

As everyone knows, San Francisco has been a Christian nationalist bastion for 60 years. pic.twitter.com/6LRAAYVnAp

-Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) December 15, 2025

As I wrote after Alito’s hits came out, they do this with every flag conservatives wave. I remember all the wailing and gnashing of teeth every time the Gadsden flag flew at a conservative rally. You’d think we were on the brink of the next civil war with the way they breathlessly talked about it.

It’s really tedious, but that’s just who the press is: water carriers for the Democratic Party.

As has often been said, you don’t despise the mainstream media enough. This is simply not the case.

Editor’s note: The mainstream media continues to distract, spin, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

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