Newt Gingrich falsely claims Treasury Department raised Palestinian flag | Fact check
The claim: The Treasury Department raised the Palestinian flag
A June 16 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich that condemns a supposed display at the Treasury Department building in Washington.
“Whoever is flying the Palestinian flag over the US Treasury building should be fired summarily,” reads the post. “I just saw the picture of the Palestinian flag flying over the US Treasury building next to the white house and i could not believe it (sic).”
The Instagram post garnered nearly 1,000 likes a week. Gingrich’s X post was reposted more than 5,000 times before it was deleted.
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Our rating: False
A Treasury spokesperson said the pride flag was raised at the Treasury, not the Palestinian flag.
Treasury first raised Pride flag in 2022
There are no reports from legitimate news outlets about any such display at the Treasury Department building, and a Treasury Department official said the claim is false.
“Sir, that’s a pride flag,” Treasury Department spokesperson Mike Gwin wrote in a June 16 post in response to Gingrich's claim.
The Progress Pride flag was raised at the building on May 31, before the start of Pride Month in June, according to a Getty Images caption.
Fact check: Flag code applies to flags hanging from staffs, not White House balcony
Gingrich did not specify which photo he was referencing in his X post. Both the Progress Pride and Palestinian flags include a triangular design, but the number of stripes and colors differ between the two.
The Treasury Department raised the pride flag for the first time in 2022, and it was also on display in 2023.
Paste BN has debunked an array of claims regarding Palestinian flags, including false assertions that the city of Chicago and Harvard University raised the flag and that activists at the Golden Gate Bridge replaced the U.S. flag with the Palestinian flag.
Paste BN reached out to Gingirich, the Treasury Department and users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive responses.
Our fact-check sources:
- Mike Gwin, June 16, X post
- Getty Images, May 31, Treasury Yields Dip After Inflation Gauges Match Estimates
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