Newsmax Guest Falsely Claims Student Broke the Law by Saying ‘Allah’ in Pledge of Allegiance

Earlier this week, Newsmax held a panel discussion about a Virginia high school student who said “Allah” instead of “God” while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in front of her class graduation ceremony. During the discussion in which five indignant people took umbrage at this development, conservative radio talkshow host Mark Vargas called the act “unpatriotic,” and said, “There needs to be consequences for this” because act was “not tolerable.”

After the segment was roundly mocked on social media, Vargas returned to the network on Friday to defend himself by incorrectly claiming that what the student did was “illegal and in violation of state and federal laws.”

This is what the left does. They want to belittle and degrade and mock your service to our country, all because you’re trying to defend our Pledge of Allegiance.

But yesterday I said it was un-American and unpatriotic. It’s also illegal and in violation of federal and state laws. And I’m calling on the state attorney general to look into this. You know, the laws are very clear. You can respectfully decline to respect the Pledge of Allegiance, but you cannot recite it and alter the words and use — pull out “God” and say whatever you’d like.

Vargas did not cite any of the supposed laws he was referring to.

Vargas was correct in noting that declining to recite the pledge is not illegal. The Supreme Court ruled in 1943 that students cannot be compelled by public schools to recite the pledge or salute the American flag.

But his claim that altering the words violates state and federal laws is patently false. That would be a clear violation of the student’s First Amendment rights.

It may also be worth mentioning that ‘Allah’ is Arabic for ‘God.’

Watch above via Newsmax.