(Photo Ronald Martinez)
This is not something you see every day: a patriotic CEO with some moxie.
Most corporate America chief executives are pretty much glorified slaves; they have to appear prim and proper at all times, and are usually liberals who pay lip service to DEI, pretend to hate this country, all the while loving to profit off it. There are exceptions, of course, like Elon Musk. However, most can’t really take any risks outside of business and have to be extremely cautious of their public image.
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But not Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis, a patriotic immigrant who has been embroiled in lawsuits with numerous local governments over ordinances that prohibit flying his 120-foot American flags. Lemonis is built different.
In April 2024, the San Joaquin County Community Development office forced a Camping World store to remove its giant American flag due to a lack of permits and alleged safety reasons. Lemonis had it reinstalled, telling a local outlet that if the flag had been a Camping World flag, for example, he would have followed the order. But the American flag? That always stays; that can never be pulled down.
Similar situations unfolded at a North Carolina Camping World store and location in Tennessee. In March, the North Carolina store completely closed amid the flag battle, as the state filed a lawsuit against Lemonis. Another lawsuit was filed in Sevierville, Tennessee, for the same reason.
However, Lemonis is not caving to bureaucratic pressure. By doing so, he’s setting a great example.
“The flag? It’s never coming down,” Lemonis said recently in a viral video. “Over the last several years, I’ve had a number of run-ins with local city officials and governments over my raising of the flag.”
“I’ll never take it down. And the reason for that is it’s my love letter as an immigrant to this country who, quite frankly, was given a gift.”
Amen.
