House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has responded to Donald Trump’s tweet about flag burners.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has responded to Donald Trump’s tweet about flag burners.
On Tuesday morning, the president-elect wrote, “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!"
In an interview with MSNBC, McCarthy assured that no such punishments will be instituted and noted it is Americans’ First Amendment right to incinerate the flag, should they choose to do so. However, he made it clear that neither he nor his constituents approve of the activity, commenting, “In my neck of the woods people don’t burn their flags they actually honor their flags. I don’t see why someone would want to burn it."
McCarthy continued, “But, we’ll protect our First Amendment…”
According to CNBC, "Currently, burning the flag is protected as freedom of speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution, and the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that the act is a form of 'symbolic speech.'"
