Palm Beach County Ignores Governor's Order on Limbaugh

Palm Beach County defied Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, refusing to lower its courthouse flags to half-staff in honor of the late conservative broadcaster Rush Limbaugh. The county's courthouse flags remained at full staff, ignoring Gov. Ron DeSantis' Tuesday afternoon order directing its US and Florida flags to be flown at half-staff. He also ordered the Town of Palm Beach and the State Capitol in Tallahassee to fly their flags at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Wednesday. Those flags were lowered, reports the AP. Flags are typically lowered to honor prominent government officials, as well as law enforcement officers and members of the military killed in the line of duty. DeSantis has said Limbaugh’s stature justified the honor.

Palm Beach County would only say it followed "normal protocols" on Wednesday, but Commissioner Melissa McKinlay posted a statement on Twitter saying, "The lowering of flags should be a unifying gesture during solemn occasions, such as in remembrance of the young lives lost during the Parkland High School massacre or first responder line of duty deaths. Although Rush Limbaugh was a significant public figure, he was also an incredibly divisive one who hurt many people with his words and actions." Officials in the Town of Palm Beach, the wealthy island enclave where Limbaugh lived for two decades, issued a statement saying its policy is to comply with governor's orders to lower the flags. (Other officials balked at the idea too.)