WASHINGTON, United States (AP) —President-elect Donald Trump said yesterday that anyone who burns an American flag should face unspecified “consequences”, such as jail or a loss of citizenship — a move that was ruled out by the Supreme Court nearly three decades ago.
Trump took to Twitter early yesterday morning, stating, “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 not immediately clear what prompted the tweet.
The president-elect’s tweet is a direct conflict with free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. It came as he prepared to name a secretary of state and transportation secretary.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag-burning is “expressive conduct” protected by the First Amendment.
Wisconsin Representative Sean Duffy, took issue with the tweet. “We want to protect those people who want to protest… I disagree with Mr Trump on that,” Duffy said yesterday on CNN’s New Day.
Duffy is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s panel on oversight and investigations.