Former president Donald Trump pledged to “restore free speech” in his Madison Square Garden address in New York City on Sunday. As the political left seeks to punish speech it opposes with excuses of countering misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech, Trump’s was a positive message to send.
Unfortunately, Trump had significantly and preemptively undercut his own argument fewer than 60 seconds earlier. He did so by calling for one-year prison terms for those who burn the U.S. flag. Trump has previously signaled his disdain for the First Amendment by demanding changes to U.S. defamation law that would mean greater protections for powerful individuals over the public interest in scrutinizing the powerful (a very stupid idea).
Some suggest that Trump was referring to the destruction only of flags that do not belong to those doing the burning. But Trump failed to say…
