GOP’s updated refrain: Free speech for me, but not for thee.
On a family visit to England last year, Vice President J.D. Vance addressed the European Union about how it handles free expression. Without a U.S. First Amendment, European countries—and Britain in particular—have admittedly adopted speech policies that many Americans would find unsettling.
“Democracy rests on the sacred premise that the people’s voice matters. There is no room for shields. You either honor the principle or you don’t,” Vance declared, while criticizing German parties for refusing to cooperate with the far-right AfD. He also faulted British police for detaining anti-abortion demonstrators and for their habit of monitoring online speech.
It’s hard to dispute Vance’s point about Europe, though it’s often easier to point out others’ faults than to acknowledge one’s own. As Guardian columnist Arwa Mahdawi observed shortly after Vance’s tirade, the vice president may be a “raging hypocrite”—but he earned uneasy credit given that more than 30 Brits are arrested daily for online speech. That figure is rising.
By Vance’s standard, the MAGA movement and the Republican Party (though that redundancy is almost rhetorical, since they are essentially the same) fail to uphold the core idea of free speech—no matter how often they portray themselves as absolutists. They insist on saying whatever they choose, yet readily suppress those who disagree.
In recent years, numerous reports have documented FBI agents showing up at Americans’ doors based on their online posts. The agency concedes this practice, arguing it is about keeping the public safe. As Fox News reported in 2024, “FBI agents allegedly told an Oklahoma woman that the agency spends ‘every day, all day long’ questioning people about their social-media posts when they came to her house to ask about posts she made online.”
As The New York Times noted in September, “A federal judge this week found that the Trump administration appeared to have violated the First Amendment rights of a Rochester, N.Y., man by threatening him with prosecution after he sent a scathing email to a top immigration official.” Masked ICE agents have frequently violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, so this should not be surprising—but we should not become numb to constitutional abuses.
Most recently, Donald Trump barred three media outlets from the White House. The president’s consigliere, Attorney General Todd Blanche, described access to the press as a “privilege,” not a right. But the administration is mistaken here, defending its fragile stance as if it were in the right.
A federal judge on September 24 briefly rejected Trump’s claim that permitting media access posed a national-security threat, especially since Trump had made clear on social media that it was about viewpoint discrimination. He asserted that outlets should not be allowed to report “FICTION and LIES!”
The dispute continues, but it’s evident that Republicans view “fiction and lies” as any reporting that challenges Trump’s fragile ego. Other presidents have shown hostility toward the press, but as the Free Speech Center notes: “No president has ever mounted such an unrelenting and furious attack on a free press. By branding any article questioning his performance as ‘fake news’ and calling journalists ‘the enemy of the people,’ Trump has orchestrated a government campaign to undermine the First Amendment role of reporters in holding those in power to account.”
Barring reporters is not the worst of it. As the ACLU observed, “in Portland, Oregon in 2020, federal agents deliberately attacked protesters and journalists—clearly identified as members of the press—by firing rubber bullets, spraying pepper spray on their faces, beating them with batons, tossing flash-bang grenades, and arresting them.”
Trump has issued executive orders aimed at law firms that represent clients he dislikes. He has transformed the already problematic FCC into a dangerously politicized body that seeks to silence outlets that diverge from the government line. He called for an early review of ABC’s licenses and even for license withdrawals over concerns about alleged Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies. Whatever one’s view of DEI, the prospect of the leader threatening to shut down private news outlets over their editorial choices is chilling.
Trump has threatened to revoke licenses from other broadcasters for their coverage of the Iran conflict, pressuring timid outlets to echo official talking points. He also announced the creation of Trump TV, an official White House media channel that bears a striking resemblance to state-run television seen in totalitarian regimes admired by the president.
There are many more cases, but I’ll close by echoing Vance: you either back the First Amendment, or you don’t. And Republicans clearly don’t.
This column was first published in The Orange County Register.
