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Donald Trump Just Said, “We Took The Freedom Of Speech Away,” And The Internet Is Losing Its Mind
“This is not a drill.”
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Yesterday, during a White House roundtable discussion, Donald Trump said, “We took the freedom of speech away,” and it’s causing mayhem online.
The quote was in relation to flag burning, specifically, which is a constitutionally protected right. (A right that the Trump administration continually pokes at, as evidenced by his August executive order encouraging the prosecution of people who burn the US flag.)
Verbatim, Trump said yesterday, “We’ve made it one year penalty for inciting riots. We took the freedom of speech away because that’s been through the courts and the courts said, ‘Yeah, freedom of speech.’ But, what has happened is when they burn the flag, it agitates and irritates crowds.”
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“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he continued. “On both sides, you end up with riots. So, we’re going on that basis. We’re looking at it from, not, from the freedom of speech, which I’ve always felt strongly about, but it never passed the courts.”
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Online, reactions range from discussions centering a perceived pointlessness in prosecuting flag burning — as it’s not really common — to alarm bells over what they believe to be a second attack on free speech following the whole Jimmy Kimmel suspension. Here’s what they’re saying:
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.