The White House on Tuesday panned President-elect Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE’s proposal to jail or revoke citizenship of people who burn the American flag, an act the Supreme Court has ruled to be free speech.
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“The vast majority of Americans, myself included, find the burning of the flag offensive,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.
“But we have a responsibility as a country to carefully protect our rights that are enshrined in the Constitution.”
Earnest said Trump’s statement was the latest in a long line of things he “has said or tweeted that the president disagrees with.”
But he declined to make a prediction when asked if President Obama is concerned that Trump would roll back First Amendment protections as president.
Trump tweeted earlier Tuesday there should be harsh punishments for flag burners, “perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!”
A 1990 Supreme Court decision enshrined flag burning as constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment. It struck down a law outlawing the desecration of the American flag.
The late Justice Antonin Scalia, on whom Trump has said he wants to model his court picks, joined the majority.
But flag-burning has long been a controversial issue on both sides of the aisle. In 2005, then-Sen. Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhite House accuses Biden of pushing ‘conspiracy theories’ with Trump election claim Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton qualifies to run for county commissioner in Florida MORE (D-N.Y.) co-sponsored a law that would have made it illegal to burn the flag.
The Supreme Court also ruled in 1967 that U.S. citizens cannot be involuntarily stripped of their citizenship.
The president-elect did not say what sparked his comment, but it comes days after a college in Massachusetts decided to stop flying the U.S. flag after one was burned during a demonstration after his victory.
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The school’s act sparked a separate round of protests.
In the past, Trump has threatened to roll back other First Amendment protections, including his suggestion to “open up” libel laws in order make it easier to sue media organizations.
Earnest also encouraged Trump to engage more with the news media, saying he should submit himself to “skeptical questioning from an independent news media.” Trump has not held a news conference in roughly four months.
Tuesday tweet marks the latest in a string of provocative statements Trump has made during the past week.
On Sunday, he claimed without evidence that millions of people voted illegally for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and that he would have won the popular vote if their ballots were not counted.
Trump’s tweets have directed attention away from other issues during the transition, including his Cabinet selections and scrutiny of his foreign business interests.
–This report was updated at 12:49 p.m.