SALT LAKE CITY — Asked about Salt Lake City's alternative flags designed to skirt a new state law prohibiting "non-sanctioned" flags from being displayed on classrooms and government properties, Governor Spencer Cox was blunt.
"They’re dumb flags and it was a dumb bill," the governor told reporters during his monthly news conference on PBS Utah.
Mayor Erin Mendenhall and the Salt Lake City Council adopted city versions of the LGBTQ Pride, Transgender Visibility and Juneteenth flags as a way of circumventing the new law. On Tuesday, the city raised its version of the Juneteenth flag.
WATCH: Salt Lake City raises Juneteenth flag, even with new state law in place
“It feels very good. It feels like we’re being consistent with our values, which I believe are American values,” Mayor Mendenhall said on Tuesday at the Juneteenth flag raising.
Salt Lake City's actions have aggravated lawmakers on Utah's Capitol Hill, who have threatened repercussions for the maneuver. But in his news conference, Gov. Cox — who allowed the flag law to go into effect without his signature — criticized both.
"I'm sure they feel great that they got around this dumb law and they did it with dumb flags. The whole thing’s dumb," he said, calling on people to just rally around the American flag.
"The legislature doesn’t need to be in everybody’s business all the time," he said, adding: "It’s the dumbest. We’re living in the dumbest timeline."
