Watch: Right-wing voters pledge allegiance to flag from Jan. 6 at Bannon-hosted GOP rally
She backed a different Republican candidate for governor of Virginia earlier this year but pro-Trump "folk hero" and GOP activist Martha Boneta was on stage Wednesday night to emcee a rally for far right Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin, and other GOP candidates.
The highlight of the evening was supposed to be when Donald Trump called in to motivate supporters at the Steve Bannon-led event, but it appears the crowd was quite taken with a flag Boneta said "was carried at the peaceful rally with Donald Trump on January 6," and they pledged allegiance to it.
It's unclear if that "peaceful rally" was the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that has already resulted in about 650 arrests, or the insurrection incitement rally where Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Rep. Mo Brooks, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Katrina Pierson, Amy Kremer, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump, Eric Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, all "riled up the crowd at the now-infamous 'Stop the Steal' rally," that led to the insurrection.
Wednesday night Trump told the crowd, "We won in 2016. We won in 2020 — the most corrupt election in the history of our country, probably one of the most corrupt anywhere. But we're gonna win it again."
Here's how the conservative crowd responded when the flag, now a "talisman" as some are commenting, was trotted out as a revered symbol of insurrection:
At the rally last night for GOP VA Gov candidate Glenn Youngkin, they said the \u2018Pledge of Allegiance\u2019 to a flag that was carried during the insurrection on Jan 6, as if it was sacred or something.pic.twitter.com/NGEaFFAvdF— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1634205637
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe did not hold back in condemning the "pledge":
Glenn Youngkin was endorsed again tonight by Donald Trump at a rally where attendees pledged allegiance to a flag flown at the deadly January 6th insurrection. Beyond disturbing, this is sick. And Glenn is honored to have Trump\u2019s endorsement.— Terry McAuliffe (@Terry McAuliffe) 1634173227
On social media some commented on the disturbing symbolism, including the parallels to Nazi Germany:
Not too go all Nazi, but that\u2019s what Hitler did with what became known as the Bloody Flag. It had been carried during the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich and was later used in Nazi rallies and ceremonies where people would line up to be touched by it.pic.twitter.com/UiiG2AXoEh— Hey, Dave! (@Hey, Dave!) 1634208301
Flags are, of course, a fetish, like Crucifixes and Golden Calves, and like religion, patriotism is a tool which demagogues use to manipulate the masses.\nAnd the more sacred such talismans are proclaimed the more venerated they will be.— Michael D Kerrigan \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddea (@Michael D Kerrigan \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddea) 1634212080
Oh good, now we've reached the "Blutfahne" part of the program. (We've already covered the "Horst Wessel" part with Ashli Babbitt).\n\nWhat the fuck is it going to take to make people realize this is ALL a repeat of late 20s/early 30s Germany?!— Medium Historian At Large (@Medium Historian At Large) 1634211814
How quickly "How dare Colin Kaepernick disgrace Old Glory!" became "Let's celebrate the mass assault on and multiple deaths of cops!"https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1448589553896468487\u00a0\u2026— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) 1634216079
Sound familiar?\n\nThe Blutfahne or Blood Flag, is a Nazi Party swastika flag that was carried during the attempted coup d\u2019etat Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, Germany on 9 November 1923, during which it became soaked in the blood of one of the SA men who died.https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1448589553896468487\u00a0\u2026— Tea Pain (@Tea Pain) 1634215186
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