Why couldn't Obama just have said:

Everyone has their own way of displaying patriotism, and all of it is legitimate. My wearing a flag pin under pressure would not be a display of my patriotism, it would just be a demonstration of my doing what is politically expedient. I don't do that. And I don't discount the manners in which Americans display their patriotism.  I am running for president, isn't this highest form of patriotism?