
Rep. Ted Lieu didn't mince words as he showed Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin what free speech is all about.

California Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu used his First Amendment rights to clap back at Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin Sunday morning for declaring that NFL players don't have free speech rights on the field, and should be punished for not standing for the national anthem.

In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Mnuchin told host Jake Tapper that NFL players only "have a right to free speech off the field."

His comments came in the wake of Donald Trump's petulant demand that athletes who choose to kneel during the national anthem, as an act of protest against racial injustice, ought to be fired.


Lieu, a Georgetown Law School graduate, Air Force veteran, and former JAG prosecutor, fired back at Mnuchin, calling him "stupid as a rock" for making the comments.

"US Constitution also applies to NFL players," Lieu tweeted at Mnuchin. "Got it?"

Dear @stevenmnuchin1: I am beginning to think that in govt, you are stupid as a rock. US Constitution also applies to NFL players. Get it? https://t.co/zy1AOQRfnn — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) September 24, 2017

The nation hears your message loud and clear, Rep. Lieu!

But will anyone in the Trump administration?