“We took freedom of speech away”: Trump brags about hitting First Amendment rights
The First Amendment is supposed to guarantee Americans’ right to free speech but the President is looking to crack down on protesters.
President Donald Trump appeared at a roundtable discussion on ‘antifa’ on Wednesday, giving his take on the various forms of protest currently in action across the country.
At one point Trump was asked about claims made by conservative influencer Nick Sortor, who reportedly tried to stop a flag being burned at a recent anti-government protest. The President responded:
“We took the freedom of speech away, because that’s been through the courts, and the courts said you have freedom of speech but what has happened is when they burn the flag it agitates and irritates crowds." Trump added: “I’ve never seen anything like it, on both sides, and you end up with riots.”
Trump on flag burning: We took the freedom of speech away pic.twitter.com/eJ9Bb36rcy
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 8, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court had previously ruled that the First Amendment - related to freedom of speech - protects those who want to burn the American flag in protest. However that did not stop Trump signing an executive order which promises to target those who “desecrate” the flag.
Trump’s non-binding directive has little effect on actual law, but he recently added that he has decided on a potential punishment were any protesters found guilty: “What the penalty is going to be, if you burn a flag, you get one year in jail — no early exits, no nothing."
But while Trump has publicly claimed that he “took the freedom of speech away,” his team has repeatedly cited the President’s support for the First Amendment.
Trump’s position was questioned in the aftermath of his comments around the decision to suspend comedian Jimmy Kimmel. A White House spokesperson said: “As someone who actually knows what it’s like to be censored, President Trump is a strong supporter of free speech and Democrat allegations to the contrary are so false, they’re laughable.”
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