Donald Trump wants flag burners to get prison time, but the Supreme Court has already declared the action protected.
Trump wants jail time for anyone who desecrates the US flag. Denying that the Supreme Court has ruled flag-burning to be protected free speech under the First Amendment, Trump seems to have called the court "stupid." A patriot would uphold the Constitution and not undermine our rights to free expression.
"You should get a one-year jail sentence if you do anything to desecrate the American flag," Trump said Wednesday on "Fox & Friends" when asked about the protests.
"Now, people will say, 'Oh, it's unconstitutional.' Those are stupid people. Those are stupid people that say that," the former president continued. "We have to work in Congress to get a one-year jail sentence. When they're allowed to stomp on the flag and put lighter fluid on the flag and set it afire, when you're allowed to do that — you get a one-year jail sentence, and you'll never see it again."
In the 1989 case Texas v. Johnson, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the act of burning an American flag is constitutionally protected free speech under the First Amendment.
The Hill
Does Trump think opposing free speech makes him look like he cares about the Constitution? What about all the weird flags his adherents like to fly, and sell? Will he jail them?
Previously:
• Trump is apparently still terrified about financial conflicts so now he's tweeting about flag-burning and CNN
• Republicans turn book bans into book burning
• Presidential candidate Ted Cruz's burning flag Al Jazeera logo
