By Carl Hisiro
Looking back at his campaign promises last year, Trump said he would put an end to what he said was a “cancel culture” that allegedly attacked conservative values and to the weaponization of government that he claimed was responsible for the many prosecutions brought against him at the time.
At his second inauguration speech in January, Trump promised to “bring back free speech” and stop all government censorship. Shortly thereafter, Trump signed anExecutive Order that was directed to protecting the right to free speech “without government interference.”
Now nine months into his presidency, we see that these promises were just a made-up farce as Trump continues his almost daily assault on our First Amendment rights.
The first manifestations of this assault began when Trump targeted for retribution law firms that handled cases against him after his first term ended; colleges that had diversity, equity and inclusion programs or taught classes that he did not like; and news agencies or reporters that Trump felt were too harsh on him or otherwise refused to follow his dictates, such as the Associated Press’s refusal to follow Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
More recently this continuing assault on our First Amendment freedom of expression rights has manifested itself in even uglier ways (if that is possible) when Trump and his allies (billionaire friends and federal agencies under his control) directly or indirectly aided in the removal of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, comedic critics of the president, from their respective late night comedy television shows. Then there is the issue of Trump openly directing the U.S. Justice Department to investigate and prosecute his political enemies.
Turning first to the Colbert and Kimmel cancellations (which fortunately for Kimmel was reversed by ABC’s parent company, the Disney Company, less than a week later), Trump celebrated the cancellations of both shows. He publicly commented on the Kimmel situation that the Federal Communications Commission should go further and revoke the broadcast licenses of media companies when, “They give me only bad publicity or press.”
In Kimmel’s case, an uproar occurred on the far right after Kimmel made certain comments on his program about Charlie Kirk after his assassination. In support of Trump’s public statements, Brendan Carr, chairman of the FCC, put pressure on ABC to fire Kimmel saying, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Within hours of making this comment, ABC indefinitely suspended the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show.
Under our Constitution and well-established U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the First Amendment’s freedom of speech clause constrains government regulation of private speech except in very limited circumstances.
Even stalwart Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul publicly expressed grave concerns about Trump’s statements and actions in regard to Kimmel’s freedom of expression.
It is readily apparent that the only freedom of speech Trump intended to protect is when nice things are said about him.
Even more disturbing than the Kimmel fiasco, was Trump’s recent demand on Attorney Gen. Pam Bondi to “move quickly to prosecute figures he considers his enemies, the latest blow to the Justice Department’s tradition of independence,” as reported in The New York Times.
Writing to “Pam” on his social media site, Trump stated, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”
Trump then went on to recommend actions be taken against former FBI Director James Comey, U.S. Sen, Adam Schiff, and New York Attorney General Leticia James. Trump concluded in his post. “[T]hey’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” while presenting no evidence of any actual wrongdoing other than being old adversaries of Trump.
Ten years ago, such an action would have been done in secret to avoid a possible impeachable offense. Today, Trump can make these incredible demands in public without any fear of reprisal by a subservient Congress controlled by knee-bending Republicans who do not dare upset their autocratic leader.
As noted earlier, Trump often complained about the weaponization of government against him, ignoring the fact that the cases against him that went to a jury trial were all successful, meaning they had merit.
And perhaps the most serious charges against Trump relating to his actions on January 6, 2021, when he spurred on his supporters before they ransacked the Capitol, were never fully litigated because the Supreme Court, ignoring well-established precedent that no one is above the law, gave Trump immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken as president.
Now, Trump is engaged in his own weaponization of the government by encouraging his Justice Department to take legal action against his perceived political enemies even though, unlike the cases against him, they have not committed any violations of law.
It is up to the American public to demand a stop to these lawless actions unless our own First Amendment rights be abridged at some future date.
Carl Hisiro is a retired lawyer who lives in Susquehanna Township.
