When Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, took the stage during the recent July Fourth weekend to recite the Declaration of Independence, there was one notable image just steps away: the Confederate battle flag.
Sullivan’s Senate campaign posted pictures on Facebook from the “America Comes Alive” event, which took place on July 5 at Mountain City Church in Anchorage. But his team omitted sharing any images featuring the flag.
A video of Sullivan’s remarks, obtained by MS NOW, shows he spoke glowingly about the Declaration of Independence and some of the “core ideas” in the document — including that we are all “created equal” and that everyone is guaranteed the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
But as he spoke about the Declaration of Independence and recited the Founding Fathers’ words, Sullivan was just a few feet away from an image that has come to represent racism, oppression and white supremacy.
“I’ve reflected a lot on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence,” Sullivan said as he took the stage, according to a video posted online of his remarks. “We must always remain vigilant about safeguarding the rights and liberties so many Americans have fought and died for over the past 250 years.”
The image of Sullivan with the flag was posted online by the local outlet Must Read Alaska.
A campaign spokesman for Sullivan, who is seeking a third term to the Senate, told MS NOW in a statement that the senator “read the Declaration of Independence at an educational event about American history attended by hundreds of Alaskans.”
“Senator Sullivan has spent his life honoring the men and women who fought and died defending the United States and securing the freedoms all Americans enjoy today, including MS NOW’s freedom to manufacture dishonest hit pieces in an attempt to smear a Marine’s character,” said spokesman Nate Adams.
Cody Anderson with Mountain City Church said in an email that the “flags were displayed solely as historical artifacts within that educational context.”
“We do not believe that difficult or painful chapters of our history should be erased or hidden,” he wrote. “Instead, they should be studied, discussed, and understood so that future generations can learn from them and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.”
The two-day event was advertised as a “family-friendly celebration” of the 250th anniversary, complete with a museum and an antique car show.
“This event will include a self-guided museum of over 500 items spanning four centuries, reenactments of the Revolutionary and Civil War, a concert, and a big picnic with all of our inflatables,” one online advertisement stated.
(Alaska, of course, was not part of the United States — let alone the Confederacy — during the Civil War. The U.S. purchased the Alaskan territory from Russia in 1867, and Alaska only became a state in 1959.)
Sullivan first joined the Senate in 2015. He is expected to face off against Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, in this fall’s midterm elections.
The race could be critical for Democrats as they seek to flip control of the chamber. While MS NOW still rates this race as “lean Republican,” earlier this month, Cook Political Report updated its rating of the race, moving it to “toss up.”
Ahead of reading the Declaration of Independence, Sullivan took a moment to thank Mountain City Church lead pastor Ron Hoffman, who has grabbed headlines in recent years for wading publicly into social and health issues.
Hoffman has spoken out on LGBTQ issues, including opposing Anchorage’s ordinance restricting conversion therapy for minors and raising concerns about a U.S. Supreme Court ruling protecting the rights of gay and transgender workers.
During the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, local press reported that Hoffman’s church defied a local emergency order restricting the size of gatherings.
Earlier this year, Hoffman appeared in an ad backing Sullivan, praising him for “making a difference” for the future of Alaska’s fisheries.
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