‘This Is Garbage’: Conservatives Slam Trump Plan to Jail American Flag Burners
(AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
Many conservatives were less than impressed with the executive order President Donald Trump signed on Monday, which he claimed would punish those who burn the American flag with one year in prison.
During a ceremony in the Oval Office, Trump remarked that “what the penalty is going to be if you burn a flag, you get one year in jail. No early exits, no nothing.”
“You get one year in jail, if you burn a flag, you get — and what it does is incite to riot — I hope they use that language…incite to riot and you burn a flag, you get one year in jail, you don’t get ten years. You don’t get one month. You get one year in jail. And it goes on your record. And you will see flag burning stopping immediately,” he continued.
Addressing Supreme Court precedent that threw out previous bans on flag-burning, the order Trump signed states, “Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s rulings on First Amendment protections, the Court has never held that American Flag desecration conducted in a manner that is likely to incite imminent lawless action or that is an action amounting to ‘fighting words’ is constitutionally protected.”
Online, many on the Right were quick to break with Trump on this particular issue, although some did defend the action.
“I anticipate significantly more flag burnings in the weeks ahead,” mused conservative lawyer Casey Mattox.
“I would never in a million years harm the American flag. But a president telling me I can’t has me as close as I’ll ever be to lighting one on fire,” wrote the usually Trump-friendly Jesse Kelly. “I am a free American citizen. And if I ever feel like torching one, I will. This is garbage.”
“Burning the American flag is a legal, First-Amendment-protected act. I agree that it is offensive. But we do not need safe spaces or coddling from the president, especially one who claims to stand for free speech,” argued Brad Palumbo.
“George HW Bush ran against flag burning in 1988 and spent a whole week campaigning on the issue. But he called for a constitutional amendment to ban the practice. He didn’t pretend he could ban it by an executive order that flies in the face of constitutional speech protections,” recalled Fox News’ Brit Hume before adding a “C’mon man” for good measure.
The Telegraph‘s Nile Gardiner called the order “brilliant,” but conservative radio star Erick Erickson disagreed.
President Trump’s executive order on flag-burning is replete with qualifiers that strip it of any discernible meaning. ‘To the fullest extent possible’ sounds aggressive, but it actually means ‘within the bounds permitted by law,’ observed legal expert Ed Whelan.
“’You should be in no doubt that, patriotic conservative that I am, I detest the burning of the nation’s flag—and if I were king I would make it a crime. But as I understand the First Amendment, it guarantees the right to express contempt for the government, the Congress, the Supreme Court, even the nation and the nation’s flag.’” – Justice Antonin Scalia,” wrote the American Enterprise Institute’s Christopher Scalia, quoting his father.
More reactions from conservatives — both pro and against — can be found below.
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