Camping World CEO says he’d rather ‘go to jail’ than remove his store's gigantic American flag

Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis says he'd rather be thrown in jail than remove his massive American flag from the outside of his North Carolina RV store.

In May, Lemonis insisted that he would not be removing the flag — a 40-foot by 80-foot banner — despite a lawsuit from Statesville, North Carolina, and accumulating fines in connection with flying the flag.

The city has insisted that a flag within 100 feet of a highway cannot be larger than 25 by 40 feet. For every day that Lemonis doesn't remove the flag, he is assessed a $50 fine. Instead, Lemonis launched a petition to keep the flag flying.

A portion of the petition read, "This is about more than just the flag. This is about our Veterans, Military, and the men and women that have sacrificed for this great country. They are the reason why we fly the flag and they are the reason we will NOT take it down!"

What's he saying now?

During a Monday interview with Fox News' Martha MacCallum, Lemonis insisted that he would not be pulling down the flag anytime soon.

"The ordinance doesn't matter to me," he told MacCallum. "If you look at the North Carolina statute, it says as long as it's not impairing someone's health and well-being, it's not a big deal."

Lemonis also revealed that local lawmakers told him that the flag could be dangerous because of its size and its close proximity to the interstate.

"They made the claim it could cause an accident on the freeway because it was too distracting — it was too beautiful," he added.

Lemonis still isn't concerned over his violation, or the accumulating fees.

"There's no question that I violated that ordinance," he admitted. "When veterans show up at the stores for the flag-raisings, and when they come on Saturdays and do their veteran rides, they will weep at the bottom of the flagpole. That's the conviction that I need to say it's just not going to come down."

"I would rather to go jail," Lemonis declared. "The city of Statesville filed a lawsuit about two months ago. If I don't take it down, I will be in violation of the court order."

"Ultimately, their reaction is from the city that I will go to jail," he added.