Politics
Americans Outraged After School In GOP-Led State Raises Somali Flag
President Donald Trump’s remarks on Somali refugees set off a fresh political fight in Vermont this week, but the real flashpoint quickly became a local school district’s decision to raise a Somali flag on public property.
The Winooski School District hoisted the foreign flag Friday, calling it a show of solidarity with Somali families in the community after Trump criticized refugee programs while discussing multimillion-dollar welfare fraud allegations in Minnesota.
“We’re gonna go the wrong way if we keep taking garbage into our country,” Trump said last week. “They have destroyed Minnesota.”
While progressive activists and local officials framed the flag-raising as a welcoming gesture, the move triggered swift backlash online, particularly on X, where critics blasted the district for using public space to fly a non-American flag.
One user urged others to intervene, posting: “Contact them,” alongside a link to the school district’s website.
Others were far less restrained.
“Cut 100% of any funding. And prosecute the enemy for raising a foreign flag with our tax dollars,” wrote Terry K., whose comment drew dozens of views within an hour.
Another X user, posting under the name ThePolishDrunk, called the display “Absolutely un-American and shameful!”
“This BS has to stop,” added Max Creel in a separate post reacting to the flag.
🚨 BREAKING: Infuriating move as Winooski School District in Vermont is raising the Somalian flag, betraying America
WE WERE INVADED!
This evil force must be repelled before it’s too late.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 8, 2025
Local officials defended the decision. Interim Winooski Mayor Thomas Renner said the comments surrounding the flag and Trump’s remarks were having a chilling effect in a city that prides itself on diversity.
“When you have these people who are integral members of the community all of a sudden thinking they shouldn’t be a part of the community or out and about as much, it really hurts everyone,” Renner said.
Somali refugees began arriving in Vermont in the late 1990s during the Somali Civil War. Since 2003, about 600 refugees have settled in Chittenden County.
Advocacy groups argue they have become part of the local workforce and school systems. Nathan Virag of the Association of Africans Living in Vermont said Trump’s remarks, combined with the reaction to the flag, risk pushing refugee families further out of public life.
“If the government was concerned they were not trying to integrate, this is a way to prevent them from trying to integrate further,” Virag said.
For critics online, however, the issue was not integration but symbolism, and whether American schools should be flying any flag other than the Stars and Stripes.
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