Congressional Democrats have denounced the Trump administration’s threats against political critics and unveiled a bill that would bolster free speech protections against government officials.
This came as Democrats harshly criticized the Trump administration for pressuring ABC toward the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s show following his comments on how Republicans were responding to the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel said earlier this week that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on” the assassination and that President Donald Trump’s political supporters were trying to characterize the man charged in the attack “as anything other than one of them.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr subsequently called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and said his agency has a strong case for holding Kimmel network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for spreading misinformation.
At a press conference to announce legislation to protect government dissidents, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said that the Trump administration’s pressure campaign that resulted in Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension by ABC amounted to “censorship.”
Kimmel’s show was taken off the air over comments he made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Murphy called Kirk’s death “a national tragedy”, but accused the President of “choosing to exploit this tragedy, to weaponize the federal government to destroy Donald Trump’s political opposition.”
“Last night, they showed us exactly how serious they are. Trump’s FCC forced a major network to pull a loud Trump critic, Jimmy Kimmel, off the air, essentially saying that any media actor that doesn’t say what Trump wants them to say about Charlie Kirk or Trump’s policies is going to be silenced. That’s censorship. That’s state speech control. That’s not America.”
Chris Murphy
At a press conference where he was joined by nine other House and Senate Democrats, Murphy said that the bill “creates a specific defense for those that are being targeted for political reasons.”
He added the bill builds real consequences for government officials when they use the power of the government to target speech that is protected by the First Amendment and it gives an ability to recover attorneys fees when someone is the subject of government harassment. “This is a decision moment for the country,” he said, and encouraged Republicans to get behind the measure.
“Conservatives who say that they support democracy and free speech need to speak up right now. Our Republican colleagues need to put the health of our democracy before loyalty to their leader.”
Chris Murphy
Bill Unlikely To Gain Traction In Republican-controlled Congress
The measure’s prospects are unclear, but Congress’s Republican leaders have thus far shown little interest in legislation that does not align with Donald Trump’s priorities.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer warned that Donald Trump’s and his officials’ threats against people who criticize murdered conservative activist Charlie Kirk “is an assault on everything this country has stood for since the Constitution has been signed.”
“One of the great hallmarks of our country is free speech, whether you agree or disagree, and this administration is trying to snuff it out. They don’t want people to even speak when they don’t like what they said. That is the road to autocracy.”
Chuck Schumer
Congressman Jason Crow, who is championing the legislation in the House, warned that undermining free speech now will haunt future administrations.
“Power is always cyclical in America. Sometime in the future, it’ll be somebody else to have that right to question us, to push back. And if we lose it, we all lose it.”
Jason Crow
Moreover, Murphy warned that Jimmy Kimmel is likely to not be the last person to lose their job, or face retaliation for their criticism of Donald Trump. He said that it would be important to engage with companies to convince them against retaliation.
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