President Donald Trump signed a new executive order against flag burning on Monday. Many conservative talking heads on Twitter/X exploded at this news. They’re outraged that President Trump would make such a move opposed to “free speech.” I’m sorry, but… are we… are we supporting flag burning on the political right now? In fairness to the talking heads, the reporting on this executive order has been stupider than usual. To help you avoid making a fool of yourself on this issue, here’s a quick primer on what President Trump actually did with this flag burning executive order.
As soon as the news broke about this executive order, a whole bunch of conservatives that you probably follow started tweeting, “Well, I would never burn an American flag myself, but Trump has gone TOO FAR with this executive order!”
Sheesh! Save some chicks for the rest of us, guys!
If these people had bothered to read the executive order before spouting off, they would have realized that it does not criminalize burning the American flag. If you want to take an American flag that you own and burn it in your backyard, knock yourself out, Skippy! I’d recommend that you touch some grass and maybe find a real hobby, but you’re still allowed to burn an American flag.
What you’re not allowed to do, per the executive order, is attend a George Soros-sponsored “Death to America” rally and set an American flag on fire, because that is an act designed to incite violence. Here’s the key part of the executive order:
“Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s rulings on First Amendment protections, the Court has never held that American Flag desecration conducted in a manner that is likely to incite imminent lawless action or that is an action amounting to ‘fighting words’ is constitutionally protected.”
It’s baffling to me that people on the right are suddenly accepting American flag burning as protected speech, just because the Supreme Court said so, once upon a time. I don’t consider burning a flat to be “speech” any more than I would consider pornography to be “speech.” The courts get this stuff wrong all the time.
The political left certainly doesn’t support flag burning (unless it’s the American flag). Not one of the conservative influencers on social media bashing Trump’s executive order mentioned Adolfo Martinez. Do they even know his name?
Adolfo is a devout Christian. In 2019, he saw something so deeply offensive to him that he decided to take action. He saw that the United Church of Christ in Ames was flying the LGBT flag, a symbol very much talked about in the Bible as a no-no. Adolfo couldn’t stand to see an institution that claimed to teach the Bible promote a symbol that is antithetical to that which is mentioned in God’s book so he took the flag down and burned it.
The very red, conservative state of Iowa sentenced Adolfo Martinez to 15 years in prison for burning the rainbow flag. It was a hate crime. Two men in California have likewise been sent to prison for doing the same thing, burning the rainbow flag a “church” was flying. In Seattle, another man is facing hate crime charges for taking down an LGBT flag at his daughter’s elementary school earlier this year, burning it, and then “desecrating the remains” (he whizzed on it).
Even the language that they use for their flag is reverential. “Desecrating the remains.” As if it’s something Holy with a capital ‘H’. So, the courts are wildly inconsistent on this issue. It is somehow “free speech” if someone burns the American flag, but it’s worthy of a 15-year prison sentence if you burn the flag of the rainbow community. Make it make sense.
Anyway, Trump’s executive order on flag burning is brilliant. It’s one more squirrel for the Democrat Party’s lawfare machine to chase after. They’ll challenge it in court and waste time and money chasing this issue, so the president can continue pursuing his America First agenda. If we’re really lucky, some Democrats in Congress will be dumb enough to take the bait.
When they burn an American flag on the Capitol steps to protest President Trump, it will be the perfect fodder for GOP campaign ads heading into the 2026 midterms.