Colorado Democrat Governor Jared Polis, an avid supporter of abortion and transgenderism, surprisingly came to the defense of a Colorado middle-schooler this week who was kicked out of class for wearing a patch of the Gadsden flag on his backpack.
Jaiden Rodriguez, 12, was pulled from class at The Vanguard School for having the iconic flag on his backpack, with a school official demanding that he needed “to take that patch off” and that the Gadsden flag is not allowed in class because it has “origins with slavery” and the “slave trade.”
Polis appeared on CNN Wednesday night where he defended the Gadsden flag and the student’s right to wear to it.
“The ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ flag, the Gadsden flag, is really an iconic American flag. It’s flown over units of our military, you know, of course it’s been adopted by the Tea Party and others, sure it has, but a kid could have an ‘I love the Tea Party’ pin on their backpack, too,” Polis said. “Let’s just let kids have their free expression in school, and if they want to advocate for their political beliefs, I think that’s something that should be encouraged.”
CNN host Abby Phillip suggested that the teacher “made the association” that the flag was connected to slavery “because it has been associated with the right, with the Tea Party and perhaps with the Republican Party.”
“You know, it’s a good opportunity to really go through the history and see the pride really as Americans that we should all take in the Gadsden flag,” Polis responded. “The rattlesnake, as Ben Franklin said, ‘They never attack first, but they never back down once they’re in a fight.’ And a lot of Americans identify with that spirit.”
“But look, it goes deeper [than] that. If we want the moral high ground, Abby, to say that schools shouldn’t be banning rainbow flags on kids’ binders or backpacks to celebrate Pride, we have to also say they shouldn’t be banning free speech on the other side,” he continued. “This is a country that treasures free speech, and frankly, I hope it leads to a frank discussion in that school and others around the country about how free speech means that we support the speech even when we don’t agree with it.”
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WATCH:
Colorado Gov. @jaredpolis responds after a school tells a 12y old he can’t wear a Gadsden Flag on his backpack: “If we want the moral high ground to say schools should let be banning rainbow flags on kids, binders or backpacks to celebrate pride, we have to also say they should… pic.twitter.com/eRySe8odY8
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) August 31, 2023