Flag Burning Protected Speech Under First AmendmentÂ
President-elect Donald Trump out of nowhere Tuesday morning posted a tweet advocating the loss of U.S. citizenship or jail time for flag burners. Burning the American flag is protected speech under the First Amendment.
Even Trump’s favorite Supreme Court justice, Antonin Scalia (video above), disagreed with Trump on this.
It’s unclear what prompted Trump’s tweet. There has not been a rash of American flags being burned, although there are a few reported incidents this month that barely made the news.
More likely, Trump is looking to create a distraction from his choice today of his nominee to become Health and Human Services Secretary, Georgia Republican Tom Price. Price is an anti-gay, anti-women lawmaker who will dismantle Obamacare and Medicare.
Â
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license