Trump “Brings Back Free Speech” By [Checks Notes Threatening To Imprison Protestors And Expose Journalist Sources]

Free Speech

from the pretty-sure-that's-not-how-this-works dept
Wed, Mar 5th 2025 10:54am - Mike Masnick

It is almost difficult to believe this is a real thing that happened with the President of the United States, but here’s what actually happened on Tuesday. In the morning, Donald Trump threatened to imprison protesters and defund any university that allows certain protests. Then, that same evening, he stood before Congress and declared — with apparently zero irony — that he had “stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America.”

You might think this whiplash-inducing contrast is just standard political hypocrisy. But it’s actually something much more terrifying: it’s part of a calculated strategy to redefine “free speech” as “speech I like” while using government power to punish speech I don’t like. The crazy part isn’t just that he’s doing it — it’s that he’s doing it so blatantly, while the very same backers who claimed they supported him for his views on “free speech” cheer this on.

Once again, we need to be explicit and direct here, because it’s all that matters. Donald Trump has not “stopped all government censorship,” because there really was no real government censorship. Instead, he has repeatedly engaged in and encouraged his administration to engage in one of the most aggressive and problematic campaigns of suppressing and chilling speech this country has ever seen.

Let’s go through this bit by bit.

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