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President Donald Trump bragged that his administration “took the freedom of speech away” from protesters who burn the American flag during a rant against anti-fascists on Wednesday.
While speaking about “antifa-inspired terror” in a meeting on the anti-fascist movement, Trump touted his recent executive order instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to find ways to prosecute people who burn the American flag.
“We’ve made it a one year penalty for inciting riots,” he said. “We took the freedom of speech away.”
“Because that’s been through the courts, and the courts said you have freedom of speech,” he went on, in a serious tone. “But what has happened is when they burn a flag, it agitates and irritates crowds — I’ve never seen anything like it on both sides — and you end up with riots. So we’re going on that basis.”
Trump appeared to be referring to his August 25 executive order arguing against the decades-old precedent set by the Supreme Court designating flag burning as protected speech.
The order claims that the Court didn’t say flag burning was protected if it was “conducted in a manner that is likely to incite imminent lawless action.” In essence, the administration is seeking to redefine an act of constitutionally protected free speech as “incitement to violence,” which does not traditionally enjoy First Amendment cover. Experts have said that this argument is baseless and an extremist effort to undermine First Amendment rights.
Despite Trump’s remarks on Wednesday, the executive order doesn’t include anything about imprisoning people who burn American flags. Nonetheless, the president’s comment sparked disbelief as a remarkable moment of Trump “saying the quiet part loud.”
Indeed, Trump has spent his second term rapidly accelerating the erosion of free speech rights.
Trump has imprisoned numerous activists for Palestinian rights and is still trying to deport one of them, Columbia University demonstrator Mahmoud Khalil. Last month, he designated “Antifa” — a movement frequently vilified by the right as a malicious organized group — as a “terrorist threat,” seemingly casting a wide net for going after those on the left. He has also sicced the National Guard and other federal agents on protesters against his administration’s violent immigration raids across the country.
Trump has not been shy about his goal of punishing and silencing his political enemies. His administration has levied an all-encompassing effort to defund, deplatform, or realign his critics in the media — an effort that many outlets and owners have eagerly complied with. Other institutions like universities have followed suit.
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