WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter Tuesday morning to decry people who burn the American flag, saying that they should face be stiff consequences.
“Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences,” Trump tweeted. “Perhaps loss of citizenship or (a) year in jail.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson in 1989 that flag burning is protected under the First Amendment, a ruling that was affirmed a year later in U.S. v. Eichman.
Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016
The late Justice Antonin Scalia, who was the deciding vote in the Texas v. Johnson case and in the majority who upheld the ruling in 2000, personally abhorred the practice of desecrating the American flag.
“If it were up to me, I would put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag,” Scalia said at a Pennsylvania event in 2015. “But I am not king.”
Numerous congressional efforts to outlaw the practice and/or amend the Constitution to add a flag-burning prohibition have failed.
Minutes after Trump posted the tweet, his presidential transition spokesman, Jason Miller, faced anchor Chris Cuomo on CNN’s “New Day.”
President-elect Trump proposes possible jail time or loss of citizenship for burning the American flag https://t.co/rRglWDZn4k pic.twitter.com/0YDFJ5OHaO
— CNN (@CNN) November 29, 2016
When pressed about the issue, Miller stood with the president-elect, saying he felt that flag burning should be illegal.
“Chris, flag burning is completely ridiculous, and I think you know that, and I think the vast majority of Americans would agree,” he said before trying to steer the conversation to Trump’s most recent administrative picks.
Cuomo, though, would not let the issue drop.
“I want to talk about those, but you know, when the president-elect says something, when the president of the United States says something, we’ve got to listen,” Cuomo said. “When he says that something should be illegal that is a protected constitutional right -- and I’m not saying I like it
-- but that’s a big part of the First Amendment in this country -- a frustrating, maddening part of it is you have to respect people’s ability to say what you don’t like to hear.”
Kevin McCarthy pushes back on Trump's tweet —says he dislikes flag burning, but "We'll protect our 1st Amendment." https://t.co/8p5I78mA4e
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 29, 2016
Miller was steadfast, saying that he disagreed that flag burning was a protected constitutional right and that “it should be illegal.”
Fighting to suppress laughter, Cuomo chided Miller and Trump over what he perceived as disrespect for the U.S. Constitution.
“I don’t want to run in circles on you, but these things matter, Jason, they just do,” Cuomo said. “When things have been vetted by the Supreme Court and it’s seen as constitutional, you have to respect that. You just have to – you have to respect that.
“What do you want this country to be? Only what you like? Only what President-elect Trump likes? That’s what is now OK behavior in America?”
“Chris, flag burning should be illegal,” Miller replied. “End of story.”
Cox Media Group
