President Obama Lowered Flags for Whitney Houston, But Not Nancy Reagan-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
President Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff when Whitney Houston died, but he didn’t give the same order to honor Nancy Reagan upon her death, according to reports.
The Truth:
President Obama gave the order for flags to be flown at half-staff upon former first lady Nancy Reagan’s death — but he didn’t give the same order to honor Whitney Houston.
There have been rumors that Obama ordered flags to flown at half-staff for Whitney Houston, but not for other public figures who may have been more deserving of the honor.
In reality, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gave the order to fly flags at half-staff after the death of Whitney Houston in 2012 — not Obama. New Jersey was Houston’s home state, and Christie said she was “an important part of the culture fabric of this state,” NJ.com reports.
Besides the fact that Obama didn’t give the order to lower flags to honor Whitney Houston — he did give the order to lower flags to half-staff to honor Nancy Reagan.
That makes this rumor false on two different fronts.
Obama ordered flags to half-staff on March 7, one day after the death of Nancy Reagan, The Hill reports:
President Obama on Monday ordered flags to fly at half-staff to honor former first lady Nancy Reagan, who died this past Sunday at 94.
The president issued a proclamation calling for flags to be lowered at the White House, military posts and all public grounds “as a mark of respect for the memory of Nancy Reagan.”
Flags will fly at half-staff until sunset on the day she is buried alongside her husband at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
Click here to read a previous TruthorFiction.com report on claims that flags were lowered to half-staff for Whitney Houston but not for sniper Chris Kyle.