Democracy is not on the 2024 ballot. But free speech is, according to constitutional expert Jonathan Turley.
He’s testified on constitutional issues before Congress and has represented members in court. He’s a law professor at George Washington University, a best-selling author and is a commentator across multiple outlets on constitutional issues.
He explained, “I previously wrote how a Harris-Walz administration would be a nightmare for free speech. Both candidates have shown pronounced anti-free speech values. Now, X owner Elon Musk and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have posted a Harris interview to show the depths of the hostility of Harris to unfettered free speech.”
The comments from Harris are from 2019, and in them, she was targeting President Donald Trump, who at the time was being targeted with censorship from leftist social media companies who disagreed with what he said, so they worked to suppress his ability to communicate with Americans.
Turley said, “I have long argued that Trump and the third-party candidates should make free speech a central issue in this campaign.”
He explained Harris said: “And when you’re talking about Donald Trump, he has 65 million Twitter followers, he has proven himself to be willing to obstruct justice – just ask Bob Mueller. You can look at the manifesto from the shooter in El Paso to know that what Donald Trump says on Twitter impacts peoples’ perceptions about what they should and should not do.”
She said Trump’s comments need to be taken down.
“And the bottom line is that you can’t say that you have one rule for Facebook and you have a different rule for Twitter. The same rule has to apply, which is that there has to be a responsibility that is placed on these social media sites to understand their power… They are speaking to millions of people without any level of oversight or regulation. And that has to stop.”
“They are directly speaking to millions & millions of people without oversight.”
Exactly. That’s free speech. No oversight by government bureaucrats. @jaketapper looks genuinely dumbfounded that this could possibly be her actual position. pic.twitter.com/yOSMq0rMfx
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) September 3, 2024
Now, Turley noted, “Musk and Kennedy are still trying to raise the chilling potential of a Harris-Walz administration.”
He explains his book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” discusses how the Biden-Harris administration “has proven to be the most anti-free speech administration since John Adams. That includes a massive censorship system described by one federal judge as perfectly ‘Orwellian.'”
He explained, “What is most chilling is how censorship and closure are Harris’s default positions when faced with unfettered speech. She declares to CNN that such unregulated free speech ‘has to stop’ and that there is a danger to the country when people are allowed to ‘directly speak to millions and millions of people without any level of oversight and regulation.'”
He pointed out that other Democrats, up to and including Hillary Clinton, have echoed Harris’ ideology.
“Where Biden was viewed as an opportunist in embracing censorship, Harris is a true believer. Like Walz, she has long espoused a shockingly narrow view of free speech that is reflective of the wider anti-free speech movement in higher education,” he said.
“Harris often speaks of free speech as if it is a privilege bestowed by the government like a license and that you can be taken off the road if you are viewed as a reckless driver,” he explained.
He noted polling shows most Americans still oppose censorship and favor free speech.
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