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"We Took the Freedom of Speech Away" Is Somehow a Direct Quote From Donald Trump - Balls and Strikes
Balls and StrikesIf saying the quiet part out loud were an Olympic sport, President Donald Trump’s remarks at the White House yesterday would win a gold medal. “We took the freedom of speech away,” said Trump on Wednesday.
The president was speaking to an audience of right-wing influencers at an anti-antifascism roundtable, flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. And he claimed that burning the American flag—an act the Supreme Court has repeatedly held is legally protected by the First Amendment—incites violence, and is thus free game for state suppression. “That’s been through the courts, and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag, it agitates and irritates crowds,” said Trump.
Again, it’s not just the courts that say you have that freedom—it’s the Constitution. But that hasn’t always stopped the government from trying to “take it away,” and as Trump pointed out, courts have sometimes stepped in to enforce free speech rights when they are infringed. Texas v. Johnson, a Supreme Court decision that struck down a law criminalizing flag burning, was one such time.
Gregory Lee Johnson was a young communist activist who was part of the “Republican War Chest Tour,” a 1984 protest held in Dallas during the Republican National Convention. Outside Dallas City Hall, Johnson poured kerosene on an American flag and set it on fire, while protesters chanted, “America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you.”
The president was speaking to an audience of right-wing influencers at an anti-antifascism roundtable, flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. And he claimed that burning the American flag—an act the Supreme Court has repeatedly held is legally protected by the First Amendment—incites violence, and is thus free game for state suppression. “That’s been through the courts, and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag, it agitates and irritates crowds,” said Trump.
Again, it’s not just the courts that say you have that freedom—it’s the Constitution. But that hasn’t always stopped the government from trying to “take it away,” and as Trump pointed out, courts have sometimes stepped in to enforce free speech rights when they are infringed. Texas v. Johnson, a Supreme Court decision that struck down a law criminalizing flag burning, was one such time.
Gregory Lee Johnson was a young communist activist who was part of the “Republican War Chest Tour,” a 1984 protest held in Dallas during the Republican National Convention. Outside Dallas City Hall, Johnson poured kerosene on an American flag and set it on fire, while protesters chanted, “America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you.”
Hey, generally speaking, is it good or bad when presidents talk about taking away constitutional rights they don't like
— Balls & Strikes (@ballsandstrikes.org) 2025-10-10T14:06:37.188Z
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