Buttiegieg backs NFL players' right to protest during anthem: I 'put my life on the line to defend' [View all]

[babylonsister]

Buttiegieg backs NFL players' right to protest during anthem: I 'put my life on the line to defend' that
By Justin Wise - 05/23/19 07:24 PM EDT


South Bend, Ind., mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg (D) on Thursday voiced support for NFL players who have kneeled during the national anthem, saying he risked his life in Afghanistan to defend the right to protest.

Asked during a live interview with The Washington Post's Robert Costa about his reaction to the demonstrations, the Navy veteran said that he "felt that I was watching Americans exercise a right that I had put my life on the line to defend."

He added that “the point of defending free speech is not that you expect to be perfectly aligned with every speech act that is protected."

“That’s a fundamental American freedom," Buttigieg said. "It’s a huge part of what makes America, America. And when that same flag was on my shoulder, I didn’t think of the flag as something that itself as an image was sacred. I thought of it as something that was sacred because of what it represented. One of the very things it represented is the freedom of speech, and that’s one of the reasons I served.”

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https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/445339-buttiegieg-supports-nfl-players-right-to-protest-during-anthem-i-put-my