Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, stoked controversy on X after resharing the committee’s post labeling “Democrat-run Los Angeles,” accompanied by video of a motorcyclist circling a burning car while waving a Mexican flag. Jordan then wrote, “We fly the American flag in America,” despite also flying an Israeli flag outside his Washington office.
Jordan’s comments have been criticized as hypocritical for two reasons: the First Amendment protects flying any flag, and he has not condemned MAGA supporters who have defiantly flown Confederate flags.
HuffPost noted that Trump supporters have also flown U.S. flags bearing Trump’s image or MAGA slogans, actions technically at odds with the U.S. Flag Code, which forbids placing marks or images on the flag.
Social media responses included California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who reposted images of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot with the caption, “Like this?”
An X user sarcastically replied, “I can fly whatever flag I want. It came free with my First Amendment.” Another shared a photo of Confederate flags, commenting, “Apparently not.” One user tagged Jordan’s statement, showing a Trump-branded flag overlaid on U.S. stars and stripes, prompting accusations of hypocrisy.
The Mexican flag quickly became emblematic of protests reacting to recent ICE raids in L.A., where federal authorities deployed hundreds of National Guard troops and active-duty U.S. Marines under Title 10 orders for crowd control. This marks the first full federalization of the California Guard without the governor’s consent in decades, raising legal challenges.
Gov. Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta have filed emergency lawsuits—Newsom v. Trump—arguing the deployment is an unauthorized and coercive use of federal power.
Newsom said, “The federal government is now turning the military against American citizens,” calling the move an assault on democracy and demanding that the militarization stop.
