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The Republic for Which He Stands [1]
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Date: 2025-04-23
Well, you can buy them on Amazon. And surely, it’s a hot item—a Trump gold-plated lapel pin that no well-dressed Republican Congress member would be caught dead—politically dead, that is—without. Good on Trump—he’s reaching “Dear Mao” status in America. This lapel pin, a gleaming replica of Trump’s head, is now replacing the standard Republican iconography of the American flag on one’s lapel.
The first prominent adopter was fashion-forward FCC chair Brendan Carr, who debuted the pin on April 3, 2025, during a meeting with Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter and later at the Justice Department.
Traditionally, the American flag lapel pin invokes the Pledge of Allegiance. The original version was written by Christian socialist and Baptist minister Francis Bellamy (1855–1931). Published in The Youth’s Companion on September 9, 1892, it read: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Bellamy’s socialism was rooted in the belief that Jesus was a socialist. While Trump would undoubtedly scoff at Bellamy’s economic ideals, he would connect with Bellamy’s views on race and immigration. In an 1891 essay in The Illustrated American, Bellamy wrote: “There are races more or less akin to our own whom we may admit freely... But there are other races... which we cannot assimilate without lowering our racial standard, which should be as sacred to us as the sanctity of our homes.” (Source: “Liberty of conscience: in defense of America’s tradition of religious equality” by Martha C. Nussbaum, 2008).
Over time, the pledge evolved. In 1923, the National Flag Conference replaced “my Flag” with “the flag of the United States of America.” Congress officially recognized the pledge in 1942 and later amended it in 1954 to include the words “under God” to contrast with “godless”communism.
The original Bellamy salute—an outstretched arm with the palm down—was abandoned in 1942 because it too closely resembled the Nazi salute. Congress amended the Flag Code, directing citizens to place their right hand over their heart. That same code also addressed flag lapel pins: “The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing... the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.” (Source:
https://www.legion.org/advocacy/flag-advocacy/flag-code)
But if the Trump pin is replacing the American flag, should the Pledge of Allegiance be updated too? Imagine this revision: “I pledge allegiance to the Donald and to the vision of dictatorship for which he stands, one nation, including Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal, terribly divided, with liberty and justice for the very few.”
Given Trump’s taste for authoritarianism, perhaps he’d prefer that Americans recite it with an outstretched arm and a hearty “Heil, Donald.”
If you think this is Trump Derangement Syndrome, consider the evidence:
March 4, 2025: Trump unveils a Gold Card Investor Visa—offering citizenship to wealthy foreigners for $5 million—complete with his face on the card.
January 9, 2025: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduces a bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” and two resolutions to expunge each of Trump’s impeachments.
January 23, 2025: Rep. Addison McDowell introduces a bill to rename Washington Dulles International Airport afterTrump.
January 28, 2025: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s bill proposes carving Trump’s face onto Mount Rushmore.
February 14, 2025: Rep. Claudia Tenney introduces a bill to observe Trump’s birthday as a national holiday alongside Flag Day.
February 27, 2025: Rep. Joe Wilson proposes a $250 bill bearing Trump’s image.
March 3, 2025: Rep. Brandon Gill’s bill wants Trump to replace Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill.
These bills likely won’t pass. But they reflect a troubling reality: an escalating cult of personality. A devotion to “Dear Leader” messaging in a democratic republic is more than a joke—it’s a warning.
As Ryan Teague Beckwith observes, “The worst of these aren’t so much messaging bills as the legislative equivalent of what people euphemistically call ‘trash-posting’ on the internet.” (Source:
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/congress-bills-trump-rushmore-irs-third-term-rcna190457) And indeed, trash-posting pairs all too well withTrump’s trademark trash-talking. He is the man who would be King, and there are millions who would anoint him.
Trump has never hidden his authoritarian ambitions—he’s flaunted them with flair. What’s more troubling is how many elected officials eagerly promote his mythos with bills, gestures, and even lapel pins. The lapel pin may be small, but it symbolizes something vast: a shift away from democratic norms toward the glorification of a single man. In the face of that, we need more voices—loud, clear, and unyielding—who will say,“No.” Before the pledge, the salute, and the nation itself are all plastered with Trump’s gold leaf.
Day 93: days left to January 20, 2029: 1,368 days
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