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By Matthew Impelli
Life & Trends Reporter
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Donald Trump's new plan for his possible second presidency could seek to defy past rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Thursday, Trump appeared on Fox News' Fox & Friends and spoke about recent pro-Palestinian protests in Washington, D.C. ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's joint address to Congress. Some of the protesters were seen burning an American flag near Union Station and hoisting a Palestinian flag.
Trump called for those who burn or damage the American flag to receive a "one-year jail sentence."
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"People will say, 'Oh it's unconstitutional.' Those are stupid people, those are stupid people who say that," Trump said. "We have to work in Congress to get a one-year jail sentence. When they're allowed to stomp on the flag and put lighter fluid on the flag and set it afire, when you're allowed to do that, you get a one-year jail sentence and you'll never see it again."
Trump also said that other world leaders such as Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong Un would never allow such an act to occur in their countries.
Trump's calls for penalties for those who damage the American flag would go against a past ruling by the Supreme Court. According to the National Constitution Center, in 1989, the court issued a ruling in Texas v. Johnson in which the majority argued that a man who burned the American flag was using a form of "symbolic speech" protected by the First Amendment.
In response to the decision, Congress passed the Flag Protection Act of 1989, which sought to make it illegal to burn a flag. However, the court issued a responding decision in 1990 in United States v. Eichman that said the Flag Protection Act was unconstitutional.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson and the U.S. Supreme Court via email for comment.
Netanyahu's visit to Washington on Wednesday provoked a series of demonstrations from protesters opposed to Israel's ongoing military action in Gaza. Earlier in the day, maggots were dumped on a banquet table at Netanyahu's hotel, while fountains around the capital city were dyed blood red.
"Anti-Israel protestors burned an effigy with an American flag wrapped around it outside of Union Station," Gary M. Collins, a journalist for the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group, wrote while sharing a video on X, formerly Twitter.
Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan also responded to the protests on X, saying: "This is an insult to every American who has worn the flag on their arm and died for our nation."
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