{"id":2479041,"date":"2025-08-26T12:59:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T16:59:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-media-are-hypocrites-on-desecration-of-u-s-flag\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T13:00:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T17:00:58","slug":"the-media-are-hypocrites-on-desecration-of-u-s-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-media-are-hypocrites-on-desecration-of-u-s-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"The Media Are Hypocrites On Desecration Of U.S. Flag"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-media-are-hypocrites-on-desecration-of-u-s-flag%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2479041&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses president Donald Trump&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">executive order directing federal agencies<\/a> to use existing laws to prosecute American flag desecration, emphasizing enforcement under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/flag-burner-arrested-outside-white-house-hours-after-trump-signs-executive-order\/\" title=\"... Burner Arrested Outside White House Hours After Trump Signs Executive ...\">content-neutral laws<\/a> consistent with the First amendment. the order does not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/josh-hawley-takes-up-trumps-torch-to-punish-flag-burners\/\" title=\"Josh Hawley takes up Trump&#039;s torch to punish ... burners\">criminalize flag burning<\/a> itself nor create new laws. Media outlets like The New York Times, CNN, and the Associated Press have framed the move as a First Amendment issue, citing Supreme Court rulings that protect flag burning as free speech. However, the article points out a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >perceived media double standard<\/a>: when Pride flags are burned, the same outlets treat those acts as hate crimes without invoking free speech protections. the author argues that the media applies the First Amendment selectively-defending flag burning as protected speech while ignoring these protections when it comes to burning rainbow Pride flags.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=brx3ddt9B6g\">Time\/ Youtube <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/26\/for-media-hypocrites-burning-the-us-flag-is-speech-but-touching-the-rainbow-one-is-hate\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=For%20Media%20Hypocrites,%20Burning%20The%20US%20Flag%20Is%20Speech%20But%20Touching%20The%20Rainbow%20One%20Is%20%E2%80%98Hate%E2%80%99&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/26\/for-media-hypocrites-burning-the-us-flag-is-speech-but-touching-the-rainbow-one-is-hate\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=For%20Media%20Hypocrites,%20Burning%20The%20US%20Flag%20Is%20Speech%20But%20Touching%20The%20Rainbow%20One%20Is%20%E2%80%98Hate%E2%80%99&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/26\/for-media-hypocrites-burning-the-us-flag-is-speech-but-touching-the-rainbow-one-is-hate\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/26\/for-media-hypocrites-burning-the-us-flag-is-speech-but-touching-the-rainbow-one-is-hate\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=For%20Media%20Hypocrites,%20Burning%20The%20US%20Flag%20Is%20Speech%20But%20Touching%20The%20Rainbow%20One%20Is%20%E2%80%98Hate%E2%80%99&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/08\/26\/for-media-hypocrites-burning-the-us-flag-is-speech-but-touching-the-rainbow-one-is-hate\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to use existing laws to prosecute American flag desecration.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/08\/prosecuting-burning-of-the-american-flag\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">order<\/a> instructs agencies to &ldquo;prioritize the enforcement to the fullest extent possible of our Nation&rsquo;s criminal and civil laws against acts of American Flag desecration that violate applicable, content-neutral laws, while causing harm unrelated to expression, consistent with the First Amendment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2115186311\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>To be clear, the order does <em>not<\/em> make flag burning itself illegal. It makes no new laws.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, both the left and the right have rushed to frame this as an attack on free speech and the First Amendment. <\/p>\n<p>The New York Times&rsquo; Charlie Savage and Luke Broadwater <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/08\/25\/us\/politics\/trump-flag-burning-executive-order.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> that &ldquo;Flag Burning Is Protected Speech.&rdquo; They warned that revoking visas or deporting noncitizens for burning the American Flag would likely be a violation of the First Amendment. They even cited Antonin Scalia, who  said he personally disagreed with flag burning but ultimately ruled to protect the practice. <\/p>\n<p>CNN&rsquo;s Zachary B. Wolf <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/08\/25\/politics\/flag-burning-trump-executive-order-supreme-court-analysis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">similarly wrote<\/a> an article reminding readers that burning the flag is &ldquo;protected&rdquo; speech because the Supreme Court said so in a 5-4 decision in 1989. Wolf notes that Trump&rsquo;s order makes clear that officials should prosecute flag desecration under existing statues, like &ldquo;hate crimes&rdquo; and other crimes before going on to spend an entire section discussing the 1989 <em>Texas v. Johnson<\/em> case.<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-executive-order-flag-burning-4628d588350db4f6baf10ae1d91f49c1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">headlined<\/a> their piece: &ldquo;Trump moves to ban flag burning despite Supreme Court ruling that Constitution allows it.&rdquo; The article included &ldquo;experts&rdquo; about free speech and emphasized the Supreme Court&rsquo;s 1989 ruling. <\/p>\n<p>But when Pride flags are burned, none of these outlets show the same concern for the First Amendment. <\/p>\n<p>When &ldquo;two rainbow pride flags were set on fire outside of a gay bar&rdquo; in New York, it was part of a spike in &ldquo;hate crimes,&rdquo; as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/06\/05\/nyregion\/hate-crimes-rise-nyc.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">written<\/a> by The Times&rsquo; Sharon Otterman. No mention of free speech, no reminder of <em>Texas v. Johnson<\/em> or the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>In 2019, CNN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/12\/21\/us\/iowa-man-burns-lgbt-flag-church-trnd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a> on an Iowa man sentenced to years in prison for burning an LGBT flag that was hanging from a church. The act was treated as a hate crime. Similarly, no mention of free speech or the first amendment.<\/p>\n<p>The AP made no mention of free speech or First Amendment when it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/nbc-out\/out-news\/4-charged-hate-crimes-destroying-lgbtq-pride-flags-atlanta-police-say-rcna214846\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a> how four people were charged with hate crimes after they pulled down and cut up an LGBT pride flag.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently for the propaganda press, the First Amendment lies and dies by the color. Red, white and blue? Protected free speech. But rainbow? Prison. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/associated-press\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Associated Press<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/cnn\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">CNN<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/first-amendment\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">First Amendment<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/flag-burning\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">flag burning<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/free-speech\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">free speech<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/media\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Media<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/new-york-times\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">New York Times<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/propaganda-press\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">propaganda press<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump orders agencies to enforce laws against flag desecration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2479042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/trump-flag-burning-scaled-e1756222944881.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6636,4188,62026],"class_list":["post-2479041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-hypocrisy","tag-media","tag-u-s-flag"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/trump-flag-burning-scaled-e1756222944881.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2479041"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2479045,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479041\/revisions\/2479045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2479042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2479041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2479041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2479041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}