Trump Again Threatens to Take Action Against Flag Burners

The President-elect, returned to the trail Tuesday night in the second stop on his “Thank You” tour — introducing his defense secretary pick, Marine Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis to a crowd in North Carolina.

During the rally, he touched on a wide range of topics, but focused much of his energy on the military and patriotism just a few miles from Fort Bragg.

Trump once again appeared to take aim at those who would burn the American flag, saying that he would determine what should be done.

“We love our flag. And we don’t like it when we see people ripping up our flag and burning our flag. We don’t like it. And we’ll see what we’re going to do about that. Okay? We’re going to see,” he told the crowd of thousands gathered at the Crown Coliseum.

The President-elect also commented on flag burning during his first stop on his ‘Thank You’ tour in Cincinnati last week.

“And do you agree with my stance that if people burned the American flag, there should be consequences. Right?”

But Trump’s current stance appears to be in opposition to what he believed in 2015.

In an interview with David Letterman on Jan. 8, 2015, just months before he launched his campaign, Trump agreed with Letterman “100 percent” that flag burning is a form of expression.

Trump introduced Gen. Mattis as “the right person to lead our defense department,” he said told the crowd.

“Mad Dog” plays no games, right?”

Mattis, former U.S. Central Command & Marine Corps commander, is not yet seven years removed from service and requires a congressional waiver to serve in the position. On Tuesday, speaking briefly at the rally, Mattis expressed his desire to serve.

“I look forward to being the civilian leader so long as the congress gives me the waiver and the senate votes to consent,” Mattis said.