A video display featuring Confederate imagery was quietly removed from North Carolina's state booth at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall after it drew swift criticism and sparked corporate departures from the sponsorship roster.
The flag appeared on multiple television screens inside the booth during the fair's opening days last week. A Spectrum News reporter captured video of the display on Friday and shared it publicly, igniting immediate backlash over what organizers said was never supposed to be part of the official booth design.
Freedom 250, the Trump administration-aligned public-private partnership running the commemorative fair for the nation's 250th anniversary, said the video display was removed the same day it surfaced. By Monday morning, only the North Carolina state flag remained visible in the booth.
A source familiar with event planning told NBC News that the Confederate flag imagery did not appear in initial design renderings the organizers had reviewed. Freedom 250 moved to eliminate the display almost immediately after learning of its presence, the source said.
North Carolina's booth itself was organized entirely by private sponsors after the state declined to participate in the event. Gov. Josh Stein's office released a statement distancing the state from the imagery. "This flag does not represent the North Carolina that we love," a spokesperson said. "America 250 is about unity and bringing our nation together. We are pleased the flag that did the opposite has now been taken down."
The controversy prompted at least one corporate withdrawal. Mt. Olive Pickle Company, a North Carolina-based firm involved with the booth sponsorship, announced Friday it was pulling out. The company said in a social media post that it had been unaware the Confederate flag image was part of the video exhibit and that its values center on "human dignity, opportunity, and freedom."
The incident marks another stumble for an event already beset by logistical and operational problems. The fair, which runs through July 10, opened to sparse crowds and suffered early closures due to weather. A malfunctioning Ferris wheel has sat idle since the fair began last Thursday. Before the opening, multiple high-profile musical acts, including Morris Day and the Time, Young MC, Martina McBride, The Commodores, and Bret Michaels, canceled their scheduled performances.
President Trump officially launched the fair last week with a speech emphasizing American pride and future ambitions. "This anniversary is a time to be proud of our past, but it is also a time to lift our sights, expand our ambitions and raise our expectations of what America can be," he said.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The speed of removal suggests organizers were genuinely caught off guard, but the fact that Confederate imagery made it into a flagship anniversary event booth in the first place raises harder questions about vetting and sensitivity in the planning stages."
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