Confederate flags not about 'racism', but about 'freedom of speech': Donald Trump

United States President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed that the Confederate flag was a symbol of “pride” for people of southern US.

The Confederate flag signifies a faction of US states that revolted against plans to end slavery of African Americans, which led to the 1861-65 American Civil War. Recently, ringing bells of police brutality and institutional racism, protesters have taken over the streets across major US cities.

'It depends'

This came in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis. Since then, many such instances of police brutality have come to light in the US, and around the world.

In conversation with Fox News, the leader said that people who liked the Confederate flag need not be racist, even though the flag largely symbolises white supremacy and slavery. It is also used by many hate crime groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.He said, "It depends on who you're talking about, when you're talking about”.

”When people proudly had their Confederate flags they're not talking about racism. They love their flag, it represents the South. They like the South ... I say it's freedom of many things, but it's freedom of speech”, he added.

This comes at a time when protesters are tearing down the remnants of Confederate legacy across the country, including statues, which was recently outlawed by Trump, causing a series of arrests in Portland on Sunday.

'Freedom of speech'?

Besides claiming it qualifies as “freedom as speech”, in 2017 Trump was critical of people taking down Confederate statues, and claimed that there were “very fine people on both sides”.

NASCAR banned the flag earlier, which drew ire from the president.

Recently, US lawmakers including Republicans had initiated an amendment to remove the names of Confederate generals from US military bases within a year. Trump recently promised to veto the “National Defense Authorization Act”, saying “I’m not gonna go changing”.

"We won World Wars out of these, out of these military bases, no I'm not gonna go changing. I'm not gonna go changing," he said.

He further said that similarly, the Black Lives Matter movement did not offend him, for it also represented freedom of speech. "I’m not offended either by Black Lives Matter. That’s freedom of speech," Trump said.

Many fear that Trump is disillusioning Republican leaders with his tactics. Recently, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, endorsed Democrat Joe Biden, while claiming that the Confederate flag represents “something that was never the USA”.

"It was the Confederate States of America. They were not part of us and this is not the time to keep demonstrating who they were and what they were back then," Powell, the black Republican leader said.

“We have one flag and only one flag only”, he added.