On Monday, President Donald Trump suggested that certain Americans “might like a dictator” during an 80 minute Oval Office session, where he signed an executive order instructing the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute individuals who burn the U.S. flag.
“They say, ‘we don’t need him He’s a dictator.’ A lot of people are saying: ‘Maybe we like a dictator,’” Trump told reporters, before quickly clarifying, “I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator.”
The directive comes in spite of a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision that protects flag desecration under free speech. Trump insisted that violators should face a one year prison term “with no early exits.”
