Trump defends the Confederate flag as a proud symbol of U.S. South, jokes that he's going to rename Fort Bragg after Al Sharpton

President Donald Trump refused to say the Confederate flag is an offensive symbol during an interview on Sunday, where he touted the controversial banner as a sign of pride for the South.

The Republican president was asked by host Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday if the flag, considered a symbol of slavery and oppression by most Americans, was offensive. 

'It depends on who you're talking about, when you're talking about,' Trump responded.

'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.

Trump has been an audible opponent of banning the Confederate flag, slamming it as an infringement of freedom of speech. He's even threatened to veto a military bill if it allows for the renaming of forts christened after Confederate generals. 

Trump voiced his disapproval of cancel culture, reasoning that the Confederacy had a role in American history. 

'I'm not offended either by Black Lives Matter, that's freedom of speech. You know the whole thing with cancel culture — we can't cancel our whole history. We can't forget that the North and the South fought,' he added.

'Because I think that Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, all these forts that have been named that way for a very long time. Fort Bragg is a big deal, we won two world wars. Go to that community where Fort Bragg is … say how do you like the idea of renaming Fort Bragg? And then what are we going to name it? Are we going to name it after the Revered Al Sharpton?' Trump said.

SOURCE