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White House dismisses Trump claim that flag burners should be imprisoned
Source: The Guardian
White House dismisses Trump claim that flag burners should be imprisoned
President-elect says people who burn the US flag should
get ‘loss of citizenship or a year in jail’, but Obama spokesman
says act is protected by constitution
David Smith and Sabrina Siddiqui in Washington
Tuesday 29 November 2016 19.18 GMT
The White House has repudiated Donald Trump’s assertion that protesters who burn the American flag should potentially be imprisoned or stripped of their citizenship.
The president-elect tweeted early on Tuesday: “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!”
It was unclear what had triggered the comment, but it appeared to coincide with a report on the Fox News channel about students at a college in Massachusetts allegedly burning a flag in protest at his shock election win. Trump is known to be an avid consumer of cable TV news.
Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, told reporters that freedom of expression was enshrined in the US constitution. “The need to protect those rights is in place to protect speech and expression not just when we agree with it but also when we find it offensive,” he said.
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President-elect says people who burn the US flag should
get ‘loss of citizenship or a year in jail’, but Obama spokesman
says act is protected by constitution
David Smith and Sabrina Siddiqui in Washington
Tuesday 29 November 2016 19.18 GMT
The White House has repudiated Donald Trump’s assertion that protesters who burn the American flag should potentially be imprisoned or stripped of their citizenship.
The president-elect tweeted early on Tuesday: “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!”
It was unclear what had triggered the comment, but it appeared to coincide with a report on the Fox News channel about students at a college in Massachusetts allegedly burning a flag in protest at his shock election win. Trump is known to be an avid consumer of cable TV news.
Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, told reporters that freedom of expression was enshrined in the US constitution. “The need to protect those rights is in place to protect speech and expression not just when we agree with it but also when we find it offensive,” he said.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/29/donald-trump-flag-burning-free-speech-constitution-first-amendment
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