Unprompted, Trump Tweets People Who Burn The American Flag Should Face Consequences
NEW YORK (CBS13/AP) - Donald Trump says that anyone who burns an American flag should face unspecified "consequences," such as jail or a loss of citizenship.
The president-elect's tweet is a direct conflict with free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. It comes as he prepares to name a secretary of state.
He tweets: "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 clear what prompted the tweet Tuesday morning.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag-burning is protected by the First Amendment.
Wisconsin congressman Sean Duffy suggested on CNN's "New Day" Tuesday that Trump's tweet was wrong. He said, "We want to protect those people who want to protest....I disagree with Mr. Trump on that."
Duffy is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee's panel on oversight and investigations.
Trump's tweet comes as several Republican congressmen basically refuted the president-elect's recent claims about voter fraud. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that the election was "pretty fair," rejecting Trump's voter fraud talk and the recount effort being pushed by Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy also said Tuesday in an interview with The Washington Post that he trusts the results. Trump claimed California, McCarthy's home state, was one of the states where voter fraud occurred. No evidence has surfaced supporting Trump's claim.
McCarthy also said: "The election's over I'm not into this recount."