A heated exchange erupted Wednesday night on CNN’s NewsNight when Federalist reporter Brianna Lyman, a frequent Trump defender, reportedly clashed with anchor Abby Phillip over a clip of President Donald Trump discussing free speech and flag burning — a clip Lyman admitted she had not seen.
Trump’s remarks came from a White House event focused on his campaign against Antifa, where he declared, “We took the freedom of speech away because that’s been through the courts and the court said you have freedom of speech but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds… and you end up with riots.” Trump added, “When you burn an American flag, you incite tremendous violence.”
Phillip pressed Lyman on the remarks during a panel discussion that included Cornel West, Phil Williams, and Rep. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat. “Conservatives want liberals to stop calling Trump authoritarian, fascist, whatever it is,” Phillip said. “But he’s also doing things like saying he’s getting rid of the First Amendment. He is calling for the jailing of his political opponents… They’re not allowed to categorize that?”
Lyman pushed back, arguing that Phillip’s framing misrepresented Trump’s comments and reflected CNN’s broader bias. “I don’t think that’s an accurate representation of what’s happening,” Lyman said. “Donald Trump’s executive order did not make it illegal for flag burning.”
She acknowledged she hadn’t seen the clip but questioned CNN’s credibility, saying, “Given that last week, CNN told me children were being zip tied and that didn’t turn out to be true, I don’t want to comment on if that’s true or not.”
Phillip appeared incredulous: “You don’t want to comment if the clip is true?” she asked.
“I mean, on what the context of the clip is,” Lyman clarified, emphasizing that Trump’s words could easily have been taken out of context or intended humorously. “I think it’s just a tongue-in-cheek comment,” she said.
Phillip insisted Trump “thinks it outlaws flag burning,” but Lyman stood firm, dismissing the idea that Trump’s remarks were authoritarian or anti-constitutional. “I don’t think he thinks that,” she replied. “I think Americans are extremely disheartened. We are coming up on the 250th anniversary of the greatest country ever created, and to see people burning the American flag is not good for the patriotic spirit.”
The exchange highlighted the deep divide between mainstream media outlets and conservative journalists who accuse networks like CNN of framing Trump’s every statement in the worst possible light.
Trump has long argued that flag burning — though protected under the First Amendment — should be condemned as an attack on national unity. His critics say such rhetoric undermines free speech, while supporters see it as a defense of patriotism in an era when symbols of American identity are increasingly derided.
Lyman’s exchange with Phillip encapsulated a larger cultural conflict — one that pits a media establishment eager to portray Trump as authoritarian against conservatives who see his populism as rooted in a defense of American values.
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