In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, US right wingers demanded a ‘war on the left’ – but also free speech. Although the American right claim to support freedom of speech, the truth is they only want this freedom for themselves, and that truth has never been clearer.
In response, even right-leaning Democrats like Gavin Newsom are speaking out:
Buying and controlling media platforms.
Firing commentators.
Canceling shows.
These aren’t coincidences.
It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous.
The @GOP does not believe in free speech.
They are censoring you in real time.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 17, 2025
Crack down on US free speech
On Wednesday 17 September, ABC cancelled the Jimmy Kimmel show following some mild criticism of Trump:
Not a big fan of Jimmy Kimmel, but if you think his show should be canceled for this, you’re a hack and a total fraud who should never pretend to care about free speech pic.twitter.com/FSiktbva6y
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 17, 2025
Now, it’s reported the cancellation happened because the TV networks are terrified of Donald Trump:
🚨Rolling Stone is now confirming what we all knew happened with Jimmy Kimmel’s show. According to their reporting, executives at ABC and Disney didn’t think Kimmel said anything outrageous but they feared retaliation from Trump. This is a blatant attack on free speech. pic.twitter.com/Jozg3ELKun
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) September 18, 2025
You see this isn’t a sign of a healthy democracy, right?
It get’s worse, with attorney general Pam Bondi announcing a crackdown on ‘hate speech’:
Pam Bondi…. “we’re going to start targeting people for hate speech”
ok then…when will you formally charge Trump? pic.twitter.com/gF5ZkN8jQs
— Mark 🍁 (@Markfry809) September 16, 2025
Well, this is awkward:
Awkward for Pam Bondi. pic.twitter.com/KjeDmy4CNN
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 16, 2025
What will hate speech look like under the Trump regime? Seemingly, anything which hurts Trump’s feelings:
BREAKING: In an insane moment, Trump confirms that he will use his power to compel Pam Bondi to go after people who ask him mean questions. “We’ll probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly.”
Fascism is here, folks. pic.twitter.com/djlxbYfZTI
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) September 16, 2025
And here’s more on that – a video of history’s softest boy arguing his fellow Americans should go to jail for being mean to him:
“They started to scream when I got into a restaurant, something with Palestine. with that. I’ve asked Pam to look into that because they should be put in jail.” – Donald Trump
RIP free speech.
— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) September 15, 2025
People are highlighting how one-sided this all is:
Free speech for Charlie Kirk.
Censorship for anyone quoting him.
The Trump administration in a nutshell. pic.twitter.com/xN6ETEoJGj
— Leia (@TheSWPrincess) September 16, 2025
Speaking of the hypocrisy, Kirk himself took advantage of the freedom to speak ill of those who were brutally murdered:
This is what Kirk said ab the death of George Floyd. Even if one does not like Floyd and even if Floyd was a criminal, should a good Christian say sth like that ab a dead person? Does Jesus not love everybody (also according to Kirk)? Kind of double standards at work here, it… pic.twitter.com/eB47B3O0Ev
— Markus Virgil Hoehne (@HoehneVirgil) September 17, 2025
A Supreme Court justice had this to say:
🚨NEW: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor slams Attorney General Pam Bondi: “Every time I listen to a lawyer-trained representative saying we should criminalize free speech in some way, I think to myself, that law school failed.”
RETWEET if you stand with Justice Sotomayor! pic.twitter.com/sO1G2LeEDR
— Protect Kamala Harris ✊ (@DisavowTrump20) September 16, 2025
It should be noted that the crack down isn’t universally popular with the right, with some prominent voices speaking out:
Tucker UNLEASHES on AG Pam Bondi with a blistering 3-minute rebuttal to her remarks on “hate speech.”
The monologue version of Tucker is back. This is EXACTLY what we need from him right now.
“There’s free speech and then there’s hate speech. This is the Attorney General of the… pic.twitter.com/1M9B0nmEp7
— Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) September 17, 2025
Any trust I had in Pam Bondi just went down the toilet. If you don’t have hate speech you don’t have free speech. If you’re on the right, do NOT be tempted to cheer on the surrendering of the first amendment just because now we’re the ones hearing words that we don’t like. https://t.co/iP1MRr90rs
— JP Sears (@AwakenWithJP) September 16, 2025
There’s more
Vice president J.D. Vance, meanwhile, is instigating a culture of cancelling people – a sort of ‘cancel culture’ if you will:
JD Vance: “When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder…call their employer.”
So much for free speech. MAGA now wants people fired for words. pic.twitter.com/XcONUMV0fl
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 15, 2025
In February this year, the US government fired a DOGE staffer after racist comments came to light. Vance said this in response:
I obviously disagree with some of Elez’s posts, but I don’t think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid’s life. We shouldn’t reward journalists who try to destroy people. Ever. So I say bring him back. If he’s a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that.
Vance has previously described censorship as “violence”:
Here is Hillary Clinton, calling for civil and criminal penalties for speech she disagrees with.
But why stop at jailing your opponents?
Hillary is calling for censorship, but she’s really calling for violence.
Reject censorship. Reject violence. https://t.co/igs0169OCT
— JD Vance (@JDVance) September 17, 2024
Congresswoman Jasmine Crocket and others highlighted the hypocrisy:
They cry “free speech” when it’s hate, violence, and lies. But the second we tell the truth or call them out, suddenly we’ve gone too far. That, my friends, is what you call selective outrage. pic.twitter.com/G245QhueYV
— Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (@RepJasmine) September 17, 2025
Suddenly “hate speech” is bad. Suddenly “dehumanizing” people is bad. Suddenly “cancel culture” is good. Suddenly words have consequences.
The modern American right in 2025, folks.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) September 16, 2025
Others pointed out the futility of treating these people like honest actors:
genuine question, but how are we supposed to engage with the right on literally anything anymore. you can point out their hypocrisy around prosecuting free speech and defending a pedophile. you can point to facts and graphs. you can even quote them directly. none of it matters.
— victoria👹 (@vicwingly) September 16, 2025
Many are highlighting that US figures recently had the gall to lecture Europeans on free speech:
I’m old enough to remember US libertarians condemning the UK for much less than what he is now proposing. It was six months ago!
— Bernard Keenan (@bernardkeenan.bsky.social) 2025-09-17T09:59:43.086Z
Funny, 6 months ago a guy looking exactly like him flew to Munich to lecture Europeans about free speech, saying ‘you can’t force people what to think’ even if it’s ‘hateful content.’
Strange how some twins can have such diametrically opposed principles. pic.twitter.com/MK0tnPUpje
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) September 16, 2025
The terror of the state
American exports have been in trouble since Trump enacted his tariff regime, but the US is still shipping its main export – authoritarianism:
Free speech banned in Windsor prior to Trump visit https://t.co/1hDPo4A1d1 I cannot see how this accurate photo is ‘malicious communication’ which must be indecent, grossly offensive, or menacing but I guess the police needed an arrest to take it down. pic.twitter.com/XpB54YDicQ
— Paul Lewis (@paullewismoney) September 17, 2025
Let’s not pretend this is a one-way street, though, as Trump is now emulating the UK’s proscription of Palestine Action:
🚨 “I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION…” – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/irLHCkrX1n
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 18, 2025
This is what congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh had to say about the proscription:
Trump just designated “Antifa” as a terrorist organization, on par with ISIS and Al Qaeda. As a reminder, “antifa” is short for “antifascist”.
They will use this lie to surveil, imprison, and kill Americans on the left.
This may be our Reichstag Fire moment. Wake up. https://t.co/R4H62O00lT
— Kat Abughazaleh (@KatAbughazaleh) September 18, 2025
Podcaster Matt Lieb, meanwhile, highlighted another free speech issue in America:
Here’s hoping all the Democratic politicians shouting about Jimmy Kimmel being canceled will realize that deporting a green card holder and legal resident for protesting Israel is also a free speech issue. pic.twitter.com/HTtn9yiHIN
— Matt Lieb?? (@mattlieb) September 18, 2025
CODEPINK’s veteran protester Medea Benjamin had this to say:
Congressman Darrell Issa claims to be a “champion of free speech” yet he had me arrested for asking about Israel’s attack on Qatar. Speaking truth to power is not a crime.
Call his office (760) 304-7575 – press 1 – and demand Rep. Issa drop the charges. Free speech for all, not… pic.twitter.com/GNr4eAoK5c
— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) September 17, 2025
Don’t stop
Speaking on why we can’t back down, Turkish-American streamer Hasan Piker had this to say:
the administrations attacks against free speech are clearly coming from a place of weakness, they must present penalties for dissent and strike fear in your hearts. you cannot let them win, we have the numbers and they know this.
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) September 18, 2025
Piker has a long history of speaking out on causes such as universal healthcare and Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. He also streams on Twitch, putting him directly in the anti-free speech firing line:
twitch is not a factor in the tyler robinson investigation at all and yet they want to bring the platform in to the story. there is a sinister reason and i think you all know what it is. https://t.co/pud4gti9TM
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) September 17, 2025
We at the Canary found ourselves subjected to a similar witch hunt when we began speaking out against Israel in the Corbyn years. Much like our friends in America, we didn’t stop speaking out, because you cannot stop speaking out. The second you do, your enemies will declare victory and announce plans to oppress you even further.
Freedom of speech has never been free; the cost is you must fight for it every day.
Solidarity to those who are making their voices heard.
Featured image via Lex (license details)
