The City Council for Orono, a town located on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, unanimously approved a resolution to recite the Pledge of Allegiance before all public meetings.
During its Monday night meeting, the Orono City Council passed the “resolution to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at all Orono public meetings.” The resolution comes in response to an ongoing controversy in St. Louis Park, where the city council voted to do away with the pledge.
President Donald Trump brought the issue to national attention in a Tuesday morning tweet, as The Minnesota Sun reported.
“Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I will be fighting with you,” he said.
Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our Patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I will be fighting with you! @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2019
“I will say as long as I’m on this council we will always be doing the Pledge of Allegiance because I respect our flag and our country, and I want everybody to know,” Orono Mayor Dennis Walsh said during Monday’s meeting.
The resolution calls the Pledge of Allegiance a “statement of respect for the values of liberty and justice.”
“Many generations since the formation of this nation, including Orono, have lived, worked, and died to provide and protect the privileges of liberty and justice we value,” the resolution states. “The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America is an appropriate expression of patriotism that cuts across political lines and unifies us in our goals and purposes.”
According to WCCO, Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, and Edina are the only cities that don’t say the pledge before city council meetings, though the list could soon include St. Louis Park—depending on how the city council decides to respond to the backlash. The St. Paul City Council does recite the pledge before meetings, but the Metropolitan Council does not, KSTP reports.
A spokesperson for Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan declined to comment on the issue when asked by a reporter for The Star Tribune. Flanagan is from St. Louis Park and represented the city during her time in the Minnesota House.
“As someone who was adopted from South Korea, I am beyond proud to be an American. However, it seems Flanagan and the Walz Administration have chosen to take the side of the Democrats looking to make us feel ashamed to be American rather than proud to support our country, which is the greatest country in the world,” Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan said in a statement. “I hope Flanagan and Governor Walz will change course and decide to join their fellow America loving Minnesotans and support reinstating the Pledge.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
