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Democrats pose a major threat to free speech; Trump is not

Democrats pose a major threat to free speech; Trump is not

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened to attack the Justice Department on social media platforms that “profit from hate.” That was in 2019. Her vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said that “there is no guarantee of free speech on misinformation or hate speech.” That was in 2022.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said the administration needs to figure out how to “tame the media environment.” That was in 2021. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, has suggested that Americans who spread misinformation should be prosecuted. That was a month ago. Former Secretary of State John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, expressed concern that the First Amendment could pose a “major obstacle” to stopping “disinformation.” That was two weeks ago.

When you approach Democratic Party leaders who openly call for government censorship of the average Democratic voter, you usually immediately hear about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s many attacks on free speech. Trump has threatened to jail those who burn the American flag. He has threatened to deport pro-Palestinian protesters. Trump recently said that CBS News should lose its broadcast license because of biased and misleading reporting.

There are Republican voters and some leaders who might agree with Trump’s stance against free speech. It’s hard to imagine the Supreme Court agreeing to any of these. Still, it is Trump at his worst, and his critics are right to highlight his attacks on the First Amendment.

But there’s also this Trump who said in September, “I will bring back free speech in America…” I will sign an executive order prohibiting any federal employee from colluding to restrict free speech, and we will fire every federal bureaucrat , engaged in domestic censorship under the Harris regime.”

He described exactly the kind of government censorship that Harris, Walz, Ocasio-Cortez, Clinton and Kerry say is needed now. Trump campaign officials and former Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard have made opposition to the censorship regime much sought after by Democrats a key part of their efforts. Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of

In the only vice presidential debate of 2024, Walz reiterated his position that “misinformation” or “hate speech” is not protected speech, comparing it to shouting “fire” in a crowded theater. Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), the Republican vice presidential candidate, responded: “Governor Walz mentioned yesterday that you cannot shout fire in a crowded theater. This statement comes from a disgraced Supreme Court opinion that was overturned.”

“It’s being used to justify censorship,” Vance correctly added.

“I really think that’s a very big difference between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,” Vance said. “I will fight to defend their right to express their opinions, even if I disagree with them. Every single person in this room agrees with this because we believe in free speech.”

“Many Americans are fed up with censorship,” Vance continued. “They are tired of being told by their government to keep their mouths shut. We believe in persuading our fellow Americans, not silencing them.”

Vance’s statements and views in defense of free speech do not exist in today’s Democratic Party. While progressives once boasted of being “card-carrying ACLU members,” today most mainstream Democrats are either trying to find workarounds to the First Amendment or simply pretending that its protections somehow don’t apply to their newer ideas about ” Misinformation” applies. “Disinformation” or “hate speech,” even though the court has ruled that such speech is protected.

Sometime between Trump’s victorious 2015 and 2016 campaign and today, Democrats concluded that the old liberal concept of free speech was too dangerous in the age of MAGA. They quickly switched gears, and today you won’t find many Democratic leaders or voters who find the idea of ​​the government censoring speech they don’t like disturbing. There are now regular columns written by left-wing writers and intellectuals denigrating free speech as “right-wing” and condemning the Constitution and the First Amendment as “dangerous.”

Despite Trump’s anti-free speech rhetoric, which deserves attention and condemnation, his 2024 Republican coalition is largely a First Amendment bulwark against a Democratic Party that wants to strip away these special constitutional protections.

Not perfect, but institutionally, today’s Republican Party is the party of free speech.

Institutionally, today’s Democratic Party is the party that opposes free speech as Americans have historically understood it.

It’s not me, the writer, telling you this. The Democrats themselves, from the top of their party, as quoted here, tell us this again and again, and few to none in their constituency find this position the least bit controversial. It was normalized.

That’s scary.

All attacks on free speech should be taken seriously. But especially those made by those in power who had the will to wield it and who cared little for the most fundamental tenets of American freedom.