A day after he slammed NASCAR for banning the Confederate flag from its events, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he sees the issue as one of “freedom of speech,” suggesting that flying the flag is a protected right.

Speaking with NexStarDC’s Jessi Turnure, the president remarked:

“But I view it as freedom of speech. It’s freedom of speech. You do what you do. It’s freedom of speech. And NASCAR can do whatever they want and they’ve chosen to go a certain way and other people chose to go a different route. But it’s freedom of speech.”

Asked about his Monday tweet slamming NASCAR, Trump also tried to pretend that he respected the decision NASCAR has made regarding the Confederate flag:

“I was just talking about the fact that that NASCAR chose to go a certain way and that’s going to be up to them. That is up to them. I’m very friendly with NASCAR. I know the people there. I know drivers. I know a lot of them.”

There are, however, some major flaws in the president’s stand on the Confederate flag. For example:

  • While Trump claims flying the Confederate flag is “freedom of speech,” he has repeatedly rejected that burning an American flag is also protected by the First Amendment and has been deemed as such by the Supreme Court.
  • If it’s acceptable to fly the Confederate flag, is it also OK to fly the Nazi swastika flag? What about the ISIS flag? Would he want those protected by “freedom of speech”?

All of this is part of Donald Trump’s larger culture war that he’s trying to employ in a desperate attempt to win a second term. But the polls show that his efforts are failing as more and more Americans say they won’t vote for the president in November.

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