Washington (AP) – Since Charlie Kirk assassinationPresident Donald Trump and his allies praised conservative organizers and provocates as free speech champions who set high amendments standards for the “American Great Again” movement.
Trump, Kirk’s praise On Sunday in Arizona, he identified “reasons and open discussions” as “the foundations of our society as a whole” and “the inheritance of all free Americans.” His son, Donald Trump Jr., told the crowd, “When people don’t agree with us, we won’t shut them up.”
But in Kirk’s mourning, the wider universe of the president, his administration’s members, and conservative supporters Implement a double standard By targeting them Someone who was critical Kirk and his employees celebrate when Discipline or dismissal About their comments. Trump welcomed Jimmy Kimmel suspension When his network decides to pull the late-night host out of the air. The president also suggested that he was yank broadcast licenses from the network.
Trump’s allies defend this approach by saying they are replacing “culture cancellation” with “consequence culture.” But others fear wider crackdowns on expression under the guise of preventing violence and fighting “hate speech.” This is a vague term that critics can use to target a variety of political oppositions.
Conservatives have always been no free speech absolutist, including a campaign against those who did not condemn the September 11 terrorist attacks, but the latest contradictions are harsh. They show how much Trump decided on a new identity for the Republican Party when he pushes his critics to quarrel despite his promises First address It says that “the immeasurable power of the nation will never be weaponized to persecute its political enemy.”
The contradictions jared even traditional Trump allies who warned against the erosion of First Amendment Protection. Podcaster and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said he hopes the administration’s aggressive stance “doesn’t bring hate speech laws to this country.”
“And if that’s the case, if it happened, there’s never a more justified moment due to civil disobedience than that,” he said.
Conservatives once claimed they were victims of “cancellation culture.”
Barack Obama, Joe Biden and conservatives attacked under the Democratic president What they called “Cancel Canceling” – The idea that political speech caused social, economic, and even legal consequences, and that the progressives ruled public discourse.
Kirk has become a conservative star in a little bit. It skewers US universities and universities It encloses controversial speakers in the “First Amendment Zone,” establishes a “safe space” on campus, and swings your fingers against “microattacks” and other speeches.
“It was Charlie who helped us cancel online censorship, free speech and cancellation culture before our political debate,” Trump said Sunday.
In 2012, as Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization was in its early stages, Jack Phillips was the owner of a Colorado bakery when he refused to design a cake for a gay couple’s wedding celebration. The state commission ruled the couple’s favor after they filed a complaint. Phillips appealed to the US Supreme Court, sparking support from the right.
The court has decided on the lawsuit Benefits for bakeries During Trump’s first term, when his administration told the court, “The government cannot enact content-based laws that ordered them to engage in protected expression. Artists cannot be forced to paint, play musicians, and write poets.”
Republicans challenged audio restrictions under Biden
Additionally, Trump’s supporters accused Democrats of punishing Americans for what they said.
They praised the civic libertarians Challenging the Biden administrationclaiming social media companies excessive federal pressure to control content related to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Supreme Court ruled that the plaintiff was not sue in that case, avoiding the first amendment request.
After Trump supporters Attacked the Capitol On January 6th, 2021, the tech giant responded quickly in an attempt to stop Biden from becoming president. Twitter, now X hit Trump, which was a permanent ban at the time. Reddit and Twitch banned groups lined up with Trump. Google has drawn support from Parler, a conservative social media platform.
Many conservatives were furious at what they considered an attack on their First Amendment rights.
“If the idea of free speech angers you, that is, the cornerstone of democratic autonomy – regrets letting you know you’re a fascist,” tweeted on April 15, 2022.
Brendan Kerr, Currently, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission wrote on social media in 2023 that “censorship is an authoritarian dream.”
“Hate Speech” is the target of Republicans
now Trump and his inner circle Not only is it related to the statement about Kirk, it also follows what they call “hate speech.” Also included Targeting University They accuse them of promoting anti-Semitism in pro-Palestinian protests.
Since Kirk’s death, the president has also said the network that air criticism of him should lose the FCC license that allows them to exist.
Carr specifically criticized Kimmel for the ABC statement, saying the network should be accountable and add something that sounds like a dark warning coming from the FCC’s head.
He tried to explain his comments Monday, saying at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York that he had not threatened to revoke the license of ABC’s local station if the broadcaster did not take action against Kimmel. Instead, he denounced the late-night host’s indefinite suspension in his assessment.
In “The Charlie Kirk Show,” after his death, Miller told Vice President JD Vance that the administration would act on the left to blame political violence by calling conservatives Nazis or fascists.
“We’ll do that in Charlie’s name,” Miller said.
In an interview with the podcast, Attorney General Pam Bondy declared that “there is freedom of speech, then hate speech,” and the latter “need to be shut down.”
Bondi later said she was talking about the threat of violence.
Will Kirk approve the crackdown on Republican speeches?
These statements have been distributed online by millions, attracting light corn from the left, but portraying praise, likes and stocks from some of Trump’s bases.
Despite this, some conservatives sounded the alarm.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said in his latest episode of podcast that Carr’s threat to ABC is “hell-like dangerous.”
“They’re going to silence us,” Cruz said.
The organization founded by Kirk Turning Point USAHis widow and new Turning Point CEO Erica Kirk called the first amendment “the most human amendments” on Sunday, saying “it will never stop us to stand up to protect those rights.”
Andrew Colbert, who produced “The Charlie Kirk Show,” embraced his close friends as someone who embraced national criticism, even while being ramped down in Comedy Central’s satirical “South Park.”
At the time, Kirk spoke about the character of “Eric Cartman” misleading him as a “master debate.”
“It’s kind of a way to show the cultural impacts and resonances that our movement has been able to achieve,” he said. “As conservatives, we need to be able to joke around.”
___
Barrow was reported from Atlanta. Contributors were John Hanna, Associated Press writers in Topeka, Kansas, and James Pollard of New York.
