# Trump wants to ban flag burning **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 1, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866 "2020-06-01T19:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/1 "2020-06-01T19:02:14Z")
He thinks the new SC will OK a ban. I don’t think that will happen but I would not bet against it. I’m fine with flag burning. > **[‘Unhinged’ Trump Demands Mass Arrests, Flag-Burning Laws](https://www.thedailybeast.com/unhinged-trump-demands-mass-arrests-flag-burning-laws?ref=home)** > > The president berated governors on Monday during a call, saying they looked weak amid the chaos in their cities. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/2 "2020-06-01T19:06:30Z")
Flag burning is protected speech, and I think conservative and liberal judges agree about that. I’ve never wanted to burn the American flag, but if they pass a law prohibiting it, I’ll be the first in line with my lighter. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/3 "2020-06-01T19:10:07Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I’ve never wanted to burn the American flag, but if they pass a law prohibiting it, I’ll be the first in line with my lighter. This is pretty much word for word what my attitude has always been about it. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/4 "2020-06-01T19:13:54Z")
If a burning law passes anywhere it will be challenged in court right away. SC only quashed the bans 5-4 > **[Texas v. Johnson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v._Johnson)** > > Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 5–4, that burning the American flag was protected speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as doing so counts as symbolic speech and political speech. In the case, activist Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted for burning an American flag during a protest outside the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, and was fined $2,000 and sentenced ... ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/5 "2020-06-01T19:23:15Z")
Sure am glad he’s right on top of the most pressing matters facing this country right now. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/6 "2020-06-01T19:27:23Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > If a burning law passes anywhere it will be challenged in court right away. SC only quashed the bans 5-4 > > [Texas v. Johnson - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v._Johnson) The minority’s reasoning in _Texas v. Johnson_ is absurd. People sure are strange. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/7 "2020-06-01T19:36:01Z")
Cheap attempt to energize the right wing culture warriors. Stupid idea, but I can’t trust the current Supreme Court to strike it down. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/8 "2020-06-01T19:44:50Z")
Didn’t we have this conversation when trump and I were in high school? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/9 "2020-06-01T19:46:22Z")
It may come down to Roberts like a lot of other cases. The 4 on the right will pretty much rubber stamp almost any Trump idea. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/10 "2020-06-01T19:50:05Z")
Does this cover only the U.S. flag? There _is_ a [Flag Of The President of the United States.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_President_of_the_United_States) And there’s [one for Pence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Vice_President_of_the_United_States) while we’re at it. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/11 "2020-06-01T20:06:06Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Does this cover only the U.S. flag? There _is_ a [Flag Of The President of the United States.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_President_of_the_United_States) > And there’s [one for Pence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Vice_President_of_the_United_States) while we’re at it. How about state flags? Or that ST rip-off Space Force flag? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/12 "2020-06-01T20:12:35Z")
What the anti-flag-burners don’t understand is the flag is what permits us to express ourselves by burning it. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/13 "2020-06-01T20:18:04Z")
Seriously, WTF? This guy is SOOOOOOOOO grasping at straws. What next? Is he going to tweet out, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!” ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/14 "2020-06-01T20:21:34Z")
It’s only free speech if a corporation does it. /s ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/15 "2020-06-01T21:16:38Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > It may come down to Roberts like a lot of other cases. The 4 on the right will pretty much rubber stamp almost any Trump idea. While obviously not still on the court, I’d like to point out that Scalia was part of the majority opinion in Texas v. Johnson. This is not a clear conservative/liberal issue. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/16 "2020-06-01T21:39:51Z")
How can burning the symbol of the USA as a protest be considered anything other than protected political speech? The dissents in Texas v Johnson agree that the flag is a symbol, perhaps \*the \*symbol, of the US but somehow that makes it protected. Their language is identical to desecrating an idol. The flag is not a religion, no matter how many Americans want to believe it is. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/17 "2020-06-01T21:49:38Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > It may come down to Roberts like a lot of other cases. The 4 on the right will pretty much rubber stamp almost any Trump idea. Well, they have to write an opinion justifying their decision, so their explanation as to why the First Amendment doesn’t apply to this circumstance should be amusing, at least. Also, isn’t burning the accepted method of retiring a national flag from service? How does one get around that? But anyway, yeah, what a colossal waste of time when the whole country seems to be shaking itself apart. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/18 "2020-06-01T21:51:51Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Seriously, WTF? This guy is SOOOOOOOOO grasping at straws. What next? Is he going to tweet out, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!” Whatever else he might say, I’m pretty sure that “tear down that wall” is not a phrase we are likely to hear from Trump. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/19 "2020-06-01T22:13:33Z")
What year is this? 1992?!! Oh, well; at least after reprehensibly trying to equate riots and flag burnings with Democrats, the incumbent Republican still did go to lose the presidency. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866/20 "2020-06-01T22:22:01Z")
Oh yeah, Trump’s a big supporter, a historian and scholar of the flag. Remember when he tried to color one on paper? This is nothing but diversionary treats for the "MURICA! voters. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wants-to-ban-flag-burning/854866.md?page=2)