A resurfaced video showing U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) waving an upside-down American flag at a 2017 rally for the Somali community has gone viral online.
The clip, taken from a speech delivered by Klobuchar at a Somalian celebration in Minnesota, features her addressing the audience as they prepared for an African country’s presidential election.
“We have more to do, but we will continue to fight for you!” she says in the video, promising to remove restrictions on cash remittances to Somalia and using a traditional Somalian phrase to show support.
“As you know, we are home to the largest Somali population in the United States, and we are so proud of that fact in Minnesota!” Klobuchar yells to loud applause.
During the event, someone hands her an upside-down U.S. flag, which she waves haphazardly. She responds: “Oh, thank you. Very good!”
While it might have been an oversight on her part, the video shows Somalian attendees waving U.S. flags upside down. Most participants wave the Somalian flag and others display the American flag correctly. A photo Klobuchar posted from the event on social media also features an apparent upside-down U.S. flag in the background.
In her remarks, Klobuchar highlighted work with other Democratic officials: “Congressman Keith Ellison and Senator Al Frankin and I worked so hard to reduce the redundant regulations on remittances to Somalia, lessening the burden for banks.” She concluded: “We have more to do, but we will continue to fight for you!”
A short social media clip of the incident has been edited together, but the longer video is available on YouTube. Klobuchar’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Reports from 2025 indicate that remittances sent to Somalia have been linked to terrorist groups such as Al-Shabaab. This is not the first time Somalians in Minnesota have raised concerns about flag etiquette: community leaders accidentally raised an upside-down U.S. flag during a Somali Independence Day event in St. Paul, Minnesota in July of a previous year. The St. Cloud Police Department reported that an officer was sent to correct the flag without objection and that event organizers stated it was unintentional.
