{"id":332314,"date":"2026-05-26T01:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T01:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332314\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T01:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T01:43:09","slug":"california-congressional-candidate-mai-vang-wont-say-pledge-of-allegiance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332314\/","title":{"rendered":"California congressional candidate Mai Vang won&#8217;t say Pledge of Allegiance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">California&#8217;s 7th Congressional District candidate and Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang is receiving pushback after videos resurfaced of her refusing to say the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_culture_article_main-content_article-body_6_5804171\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/education\/patriotism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Pledge of Allegiance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">Over Memorial Day weekend, multiple clips showed Vang turning aside or staying silent during city council meetings as members said the Pledge of Allegiance toward the American flag. As <a href=\"https:\/\/sacramento.granicus.com\/player\/clip\/6768?view_id=22&amp;redirect=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">recently as Wednesday<\/a>, Van was seen with eyes downcast during the pledge.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Vang, who has held her Sacramento City Council position since 2020, previously addressed her refusal to say the Pledge of Allegiance in a <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_culture_article_main-content_article-body_6_5804173\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MaiForUs\/posts\/and-this-is-exactly-why-i-choose-not-to-recite-the-pledge-of-allegiance-during-e\/1171861058280783\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">2025 Facebook post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_culture_article_main-content_article-body_6_5804174\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/vp-harris-mocked-flubbing-opening-line-pledge-allegiance-what-embarrassment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">VP HARRIS MOCKED FOR FLUBBING OPENING LINE OF PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: &#8216;WHAT AN EMBARRASSMENT&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/mai-vang-sacramento.jpg\" alt=\"Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang listens to a speaker during a rally against ICE arrests and deportations in front of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building in downtown Sacramento. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;[T]his is exactly why I choose not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance during every council meeting,&#8221; Vang said. &#8220;As much as I love this country, I use that moment to ground myself\u2014to center our communities and remind myself of the injustices and harm that continue to affect so many, both locally and across the globe, under this nation\u2019s influence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">She continued, &#8220;We must not tune out\u2014they want us to become numb to the realities we see in the news\u2014it\u2019s part of the plan to keep us complacent. But instead, we resist. We surround ourselves with loved ones, take time to rest, remain vigilant, and stay steadfast in the fight for equity, justice &amp; humanity. We got us. I love you all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_culture_article_main-content_article-body_6_5804175\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/maryland-elementary-school-faces-backlash-over-pledge-allegiance-mandatory-patriotism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">MARYLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FACES BACKLASH OVER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, &#8216;MANDATORY PATRIOTISM&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_culture_article_main-content_article-body_6_5804176\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Fox News Digital<\/a> reached out to Vang for comment.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/flag-9.jpg\" alt=\"Biracial African American and Caucasian elementary age little girl is standing outdoors with diverse classmates. Students are reciting Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag. For Flag Day use\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Several videos of Sacramento city council meetings showed Mai Vang refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance. (iStock)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Vang is one of several candidates seeking to challenge longtime Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui, who has held the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_culture_article_main-content_article-body_6_5804177\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/us-regions\/west\/california\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">California<\/a> seat for over 20 years.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The Sacramento city councilmember is also the latest among a series of progressive candidates seeking to challenge longstanding Democratic politicians. Vang has voiced support for far-left positions such as universal healthcare, increased taxes on billionaires and <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_culture_article_main-content_article-body_6_5804178\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/maiforus\/status\/2040118083910779145\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">abolishing ICE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_culture_article_main-content_article-body_6_5804179\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/fcc-launches-pledge-america-campaign-broadcasters-part-trump-admins-250th-anniversary-celebration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">FCC LAUNCHES &#8216;PLEDGE AMERICA CAMPAIGN&#8217; FOR BROADCASTERS AS PART OF TRUMP ADMIN&#8217;S 250TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">In a comment to the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_culture_article_main-content_article-body_6_5804180\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/23\/us-news\/california-congressional-candidate-refuses-to-say-pledge-of-allegiance-turns-back-on-us-flag\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Post<\/a>, Sacramento Democratic political consultant Steve Maviglio called Vang&#8217;s actions &#8220;completely disrespectful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;It\u2019s \u2018Patriotism 101,\u2019 you say the Pledge of Allegiance even if you don\u2019t agree with everything,&#8221; Maviglio said. &#8220;You can\u2019t say the Pledge of Allegiance\u2014that\u2019s how extreme you are? Come on.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/american-flags.png\" alt=\"American flags being waved in New York City\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Mai Vang defended her choice in a 2025 Facebook post. (iStock)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The primary will be held on June 2.<\/p>\n<p>Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California&#8217;s 7th Congressional District candidate and Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang is receiving pushback after videos resurfaced of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,1752,33176,16594,117906],"class_list":["post-332314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-congress","tag-culture-trends","tag-fox-news-media","tag-patriotism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}