in the past, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell opposed efforts to ban flag burning. | getty by burgess everett 11/29/16 03:28 pm est senate majority leader mitch mcconnell broke with donald trump on tuesday, saying he disagrees with the president-elect on flag burning while urging trump to stop litigating the results of an election he won. over the past two days, trump has falsely suggested that "millions" of people voted illegally, thereby helping hillary clinton win the popular vote. then on tuesday morning, trump suggested that people who burn flags should face a "loss of citizenship or [a] year in jail." story continued below though he never called out trump by name, mcconnell quickly moved to disassociate himself from trump's sentiments. in the past, mcconnell opposed efforts to ban flag burning. "the supreme court has held that that activity is a protected first-amendment right, a form of unpleasant speech, and in this country we have a long tradition of respecting unpleasant speech. i happen to support the supreme court's decision on that matter," mcconnell said. the famously restrained gop leader took a similar tack on trump's claims of voter fraud. trump has said on twitter that the media is ignoring elctoral fraud. "sec. clinton conceded the election and it appears to me she thinks the election's over, the american people think the election's over and i think the election's over. so, it's an interesting discussion but it strikes me as totally irrelevant. time to move on," mcconnell said. asked if congress should investigate trump's claims, mcconnell stayed tightly on message: "the election's over, we all know it, and it's time to move on." by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
mcconnell breaks with trump on flag burning, voter fraud - politico
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