Donald Trump has been mocked for colouring in the American flag incorrectly during a visit to a children’s hospital in Ohio. The US president was photographed adding a blue stripe to an outline of the star-spangled banner, rather than correctly filling in the 13 alternating red and white stripes, representing the original colonies. Mr Trump was accused of hypocrisy following his attacks on NFL players for failing to respect the flag and kneel for the national anthem before games. The Republican also, notoriously, hugged an American flag after making a speech attacking illegal immigration. Activist and songwriter Holly Figueroa O’Reilly said: “American flag’s stripes are red and white. Trump should know this, considering the fit he throws when someone kneels at a football game, ‘disrespecting the flag’.” Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Show all 16 1 /16 Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions New York Post Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Washington Post Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Newsday Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions St Louis Post Dispatch Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Chicago Sun Times Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Star Ledger Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Daily News Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The New York Times Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions San Francisco Chronicle Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Boston Globe Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Houston Chronicle Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Miami Herald Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Detroit Free Press Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Wall Street Journal Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Dallas Morning News Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions USA Today Twitter users were also quick to suggest Mr Trump was actually attempting to colour in the Russian flag, which is made up of three horizontal layers of white, blue and red, at a time when the FBI is investigating his campaign’s ties to Russia before the 2016 election.. The photo of the president’s flag colouring session was first tweeted by the secretary of state for health and human services, Alex Azar. The added blue line was quickly spotted online, as Twitter users speculated whether it was a simple mistake or a deliberate act. Several people spotted the resemblance to the colours of the Russian flag, and the flag of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s supporters claimed the president was in fact paying tribute to the police with the added blue line. An alternative theory was he was issuing a coded message about John McCain a few days before the senator’s death from brain cancer. It was also claimed Mr Trump appeared to be trying to copy the child sat next to him at the table. In fact, it would have been easier for the president to look at the flag pin he was wearing on his own jacket. It follows a tough week for Mr Trump, with his former campaign manager Paul Manafort being convicted of fraud, lawyer Michael Cohen pleading guilty to paying “hush money” to a Playboy model and a porn actress alleging affairs with the president, and reports several allies have been granted immunity from prosecution in return for their testimony.<doc-sep>Donald Trump has been photographed colouring in an American flag wrong. The US President was visiting children at a hospital in Ohio with his wife Melania when he sat down to colour in some pictures with children. A photo tweeted out by secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services Alex Azar showed Mr Trump sitting with partially coloured-in flag. Twitter users were quick to notice while the top stripe was correctly drawn in red, Mr Trump left the next two white and the coloured the fourth one blue.<doc-sep>Name: The Trump flag. Age: Three days old. Appearance: Blue canton, white stars, 13 alternating red, white and blue stripes. Red, white and blue stripes? Yes sir. These are the colours of my flag and I’ll thank you for not disrespecting them. But surely the stripes are only red and white. Perhaps you’re confusing the Trump flag with the flag of the United States of America. What’s the difference? Well, the flag of the United States of America was reportedly designed by Francis Hopkinson and is thought to have been first hoisted by the Continental Army at Middlebrook encampment in New Jersey in June 1777. It contains 13 alternating stripes of red and white. And? The Trump flag was designed by Donald Trump, sitting next to a bunch of kids during a visit to an Ohio children’s hospital. It’s like the American flag, but for some reason, it’s got a blue stripe on it. Oh, so what you’re saying is that the American president was photographed colouring in a drawing of the US flag but that he got it wrong? I am saying that, yes. And, out of interest, how has this gone down? That depends if you’re a Trump supporter or not. Let’s say I’m not. At time of writing, the initial tweet pointing out Trump’s error has been retweeted 124,000 times. And if I am? One supporter’s tweet reads: “You’re hilarious if you don’t think the president knows what a flag looks like. HES COLORING!!!!!! with children. If it was a horse and he colored it pink would people be upset he colored a horse not a REAL horse color?? ?” What happens now? If Trump says the American flag contains blue stripes, do they all have to change? Well, the beauty of the American flag is that it’s an ever-evolving statement of nationhood. The current incarnation has only been around since 1960, after Hawaii was accepted in as a state. It changed before and, if Puerto Rico is admitted as a US state, it will inevitably change again. So it’s possible? No, of course it’s not possible. We didn’t start spelling “potatoe” with an E after Dan Quayle mucked up at a spelling bee in 1992, so we probably won’t start adding errant stripes to the American flag just because some lumbering dimbo mucked it up. Why does a red, white and blue-striped flag sound so familiar? Oh, Russia. It’s the Russian flag. Donald Trump was colouring the Russian flag. Nothing to worry about here. Everyone move on. Do say: “Thy banners make tyranny tremble, when borne by the red, white and blue.” Don’t say: “And blue.”<doc-sep>Meeting with kids is a classic activity for politicians, and one that probably seems like it couldn’t go wrong. But when Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, shared a picture of President Trump coloring with children from Ohio, plenty of people were quick to criticize the president over the photo. President Trump (Photo: Twitter courtesy Alex Azar) Azar may not have realized it at the time, but the image shows that Trump had colored a blue stripe onto the American flag. (To be clear, the stripes on the U.S. flag are red and white; the blue is the background to flag’s stars.) The opioid crisis is one of our top priorities at HHS, with a drumbeat of action on the full range of efforts where we can assist local communities. Today, I joined @POTUS & @FLOTUS in Ohio to learn how states and communities are responding to the challenge of opioid addiction. pic.twitter.com/NwxSoeNznA — Alex Azar (@SecAzar) August 25, 2018 The photo started gaining more attention when another Twitter user shared it with a zoom-in on the misplaced blue stripe. “The President has colored his flag wrong. That is all,” the Twitter user, Talia, wrote. The President has colored his flag wrong. That is all. pic.twitter.com/wWXBgR9I6V — Talia (@2020fight) August 25, 2018 As Azar wrote in his tweet, Trump and first lady Melania Trump were in Ohio to talk about opioid addiction with affected communities. The president’s visit with children took place at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, CNN reported. But the conversation around opioid addiction doesn’t seem to be what most people took away from Trump’s Ohio visit. Story continues After the photo began making the rounds, Twitter users started joking about why Trump might have drawn a blue stripe onto the flag. A number of people suggested that Trump was thinking of the Russian flag, which does feature a blue stripe. He’s just getting it confused with his flag. pic.twitter.com/j1J1qTTmkO — Christina (@christinavotes) August 25, 2018 At some point, someone will notice that by coloring in a blue stripe into the red and white stripes of the US flag today, President Trump was starting to create a Russian Flag. Now that's what I call a Freudian Slip ! (@davidfrum @jaketapper @joshtpm @BillKristol @jk_rowling) pic.twitter.com/mQaxuLCv1s — Greg McKenna (@Quesobear) August 25, 2018 Trump is either really really ignorant, or he's really really unpatriotic! No one colors the America flag with blue stripes unless it's really the Russian flag! pic.twitter.com/TNC4cnyYE4 — Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) August 25, 2018 Others suggested President Trump meant to honor the police with his coloring choice. Good job media. Hurr-durr Trump doesn't know what color the flag is. Well, what it's meant to represent is the "thin blue line" between chaos and order, also known as the police. They're far from perfect but so is society. God forbid we have a pro-police president. pic.twitter.com/Bq5tpq46zk — Jack Hammer (@Cleggermeister) August 25, 2018 Ok so I obviously strongly dislike Trump, maybe even hate, but stop reaching saying he doesn’t know the colors of the flag. He was obviously coloring a blue police stripe thing…I hope. There are better things to spend your energy on. 🤷🏻‍♀️ — Natasha Hart (@EuniceMurt) August 26, 2018 Then this is why. He supports cops. Simple. pic.twitter.com/RKl2iKxXK7 — RobertTrader (@WethepeopleT) August 26, 2018 But not everyone believed that theory. As one person pointed out, Trump also colored in a red stripe, which isn’t featured on the police flag. There are two flaws in that statement. First of all Trump used red and there's no red in the police flag. Secondly the blue stripe on the police flag is the fifth line from the top, meanwhile Trump coloured the fourth. Just look at it before trying to defend him. — 𝒊 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 (@nevermind_chim) August 26, 2018 Not surprisingly, many people thought Trump’s apparent mistake was a bit hypocritical, considering his criticism of football players who’ve kneeled during the national anthem. The movement, started by Colin Kaepernick, is about protesting police brutality. JFC, Trump!🙄 American flag's stripes are red and white. Trump should know this, considering the fit he throws when someone kneels at a football game "disrespecting the flag". Trump is coloring blue and red stripes. 🙄🙄🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ h/t @2020fight#SaturdayMorning #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/es8yHg8fcO — Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) August 25, 2018 Trump literally doesn't know what the American Flag looks like, but think's he has the right to tell people that they can not kneel during the National Anthem… pic.twitter.com/Wsd6sX0bFi — Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) August 25, 2018 @realDonaldTrump You berate athletes who kneel & you don't even know the words to the national anthem. When you sing your mouth doesn't match the words. Now you have shown you don't even know what colors are in the flag. Unbelievable. Trump your hands even lie. https://t.co/WMiic7mg4R — DS (@dshepherd62) August 26, 2018 For his part, Trump hasn’t addressed his coloring controversy on Twitter, though he did post several tweets about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails on Saturday. Maybe the president is taking a cue from his wife’s playbook and deciding he really doesn’t care. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: • Melania Trump recycles $1,280 striped shirtdress for Tim Cook dinner • Melania and Ivanka Trump twin in floral dresses from Monique Lhuillier and Roland Mouret • Statue of Liberty protester mocks Melania Trump’s infamous ‘I really don’t care, do u?’ coat at court appearance Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.<doc-sep>
Donald Trump has been mocked for forgetting the colours of the American flag during a visit to a children’s hospital this weekend. The US president was visiting children in Columbus, Ohio with his health secretary Alex Azar and wife Melania Trump when he made the mistake. In pictures posted by Mr Azar on Twitter, Trump fills in one of the stripes on the star-spangled banner with a blue felt-tip pen. They should be white and red. Donald Trump colours in an American flag during a visit to a children’s hospital in Ohio (Picture: AFP/Getty) The picture was picked up online with one person tweeting: ‘The President has colored his flag wrong. That is all.’ Some jumped to the defence of the president, arguing: ‘If it was a horse and he colored it pink would people be upset he colored a horse not a REAL horse color?? ?’ While other were less forgiving, mocking the president for forgetting the colours of his own nation’s flag. The president was in Ohio on a visit aimed at finding a way to tackle the worsening crisis of opioid addiction. The President has colored his flag wrong. That is all. pic.twitter.com/wWXBgR9I6V — Talia (@2020fight) August 25, 2018 Last year, Mr Trump declared America’s use of opioids a national public health emergency, calling it ‘the worst drug crisis in American history’. His appearance at the hospital followed a tough week for Trump, with his former campaign manager Paul Manafort being convicted of fraud and his former lawyer Michael Cohen pleading guilty to paying ‘hush money’ to a Playboy model and a porn actress. Both women had claimed to have had affairs with the president. The blue line is visible in this photo posted online by Trump’s health secretary (Picture: @SecAzar) Even his flag pin couldn’t help him out during the colouring in session (Picture: AFP/Getty)