Trump doesn’t understand the First Amendment
Trump doesn’t understand the First Amendment
Somebody needs to give anti-Israel protesters some tips on their PR. Agitators took to the streets Wednesday night to protest Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress and decided that the best way to make their case to the public was to burn the American flag.
Suffice it to say, this didn’t go over well. Their tactics were roundly denounced by Democrats and Republicans alike. But, as often occurs when protests involve the burning of the flag, a round of free speech discourse was spurred, primarily by former President Donald Trump, who argued that this expressive act is not just contemptible but actually ought to be illegal.
“I think you should get a one-year jail sentence if you do anything to desecrate the American flag,” Trump said in an interview with Fox & Friends. “People will say, oh, it’s unconstitutional. Those are stupid people that say that…”
Taking offense at seeing people burn our flag is understandable. But when Trump wanders into the territory of wanting to criminalize this act just because it hurts his feelings, he is embracing censorship — and running right into a First Amendment roadblock.