Trump can't accept bad news. Here's how that hurts the First Amendment

Yahoo

a day ago

As August unfolds in one of the warmest summers on record, a chill is coming from the White House that should give us all pause because the whiff of authoritarianism hangs over the Capitol — and the rest of the land. And it is not just from the National Guard being put on the streets in Washington, D.C.
On Aug. 1, the federal Labor Department issued a monthly jobs report showing the weakest pace of hiring for any three-month period since the pandemic recession in 2020. Yes, 73,000 jobs were added in July, but it was far below expectations. Was the Trump economy tanking only seven months after he took office?
The president, who cannot accept bad news, even if true, proceeded to fire Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the long-time commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He accused her of manipulating the monthly jobs report for 'political purposes,' a tactic virtually impossible in that world of computer-generated numbers.
'The Economy is BOOMING under 'TRUMP,'' the President insisted. Of course. Why not just prove it with the statistics as a free and open discussion would suggest. Truth will rise to the top, no?
But, instead, the President turned to silencing his critic: 'You're fired!"
Who in the Labor Department will dare to tell the real truth now about the economy? Gagging or punishing people for their speech 'chills' everyone from speaking out or from daring to criticize the Great Wizard behind the curtain.
Trump is embarking more boldly on backdoor censorship
Of course, the CEO of any big company has the right to fire people, even with baseless accusations. But the real issue here is the method in his madness. Backdoor censorship like Trump's has the same deleterious effect as cutting off the tongue of the speaker you don't like.
I use the word 'chill' purposely because when we discuss the First Amendment we think of two things: the first, that 'Congress shall make no law…' means just that. Laws cannot be passed to stop someone from talking, or punish someone for their opinion, or tell them things they cannot say.
Government cannot, most prominently, block people or organizations from expressing their opinions and points of view.
'For it is a central tenet of the First Amendment that the government must remain neutral in the marketplace of ideas,' reminded the Supreme Court in a famous 1988 case.
The law on speech banning is clear and inviolable.
Trump knows enough to stay away from that, at least so far. But what he still wants to do — and not break the law — is control what people say, particularly their criticism of him, his policies and things that lurk around like the Epstein scandal that has a serious chance of ruining him.
Which brings us to the 'spirit of the First Amendment.' And this is different. Trump consistently violates the spirit of the law which is this: We'll be an open society, where people feel free to disagree with each other and criticize their leaders and their government, even when they work for that government.
The framers of the constitution envisioned this moment, fearing the person in power would silence the opposing political party and the critics. That's what the First Amendment protects. You can dissent. You can even say terrible things about the government. But this president doesn't care.
Just look around; the attacks on the spirit of free speech come out of this White House faster than you can say Rosie O'Donnell.
The day before the jobs report irked the president, some flunky at the Smithsonian, in either an adolescent attempt to please the Boss or under pressure from his minions, removed information from those hallowed historical halls about two impeachments in Trump's first term. Two days later the White house promised to restore them.
A violation of the law? Probably not. But it reeks of covering up misdeeds and history, more akin to the Kremlin than to the 45 words of the First Amendment which aims for openness, candor and civil discussions.
But if you bury the bodies, perhaps no one will know — or remember. Trump keeps reminding us of what he is capable of. It gets better — or worse
What can we learn from the Colbert cancellation?
Dating back to the early 1960s, late-night comedians like Johnny Carson filled the airwaves with political satire, ripping into Nixon and the break-in, Ronald Reagan's hairdresser, Gerald Ford's bumbling ways on the golf course. And the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal was a bonanza.
Every President took his lumps. The tradition continues today as late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon on NBC, Jimmy Kimmel on ABC and Jon Stewart on the Comedy Channel pummel him nightly. Perhaps it's worse for Trump — because he gives them so much raw material and because a comic barb can go viral on social media.
Some commentators think more harm is done to him with the liberty of comedic license than from the mainstream press with its fetish on facts first. But now comes the multi-layered debacle of Stephen Colbert, CBS' top-rated late-night host whose relentless lampooning of MAGA incensed the president.
Colbert, on for 11 years, was canceled after pressure from the president as the network — once the beacon of TV news — cut a deal to ensure approval of a big corporate merger which needed Trump approval.
Some background: On Dec. 14, 2024, CBS settled a $15 million defamation lawsuit with Trump over the editing of a '60 minutes' episode. Experts I've talked to were flabbergasted, asserting there's little chance Trump could have won. Defamation laws favor the press. But CBS caved. Why?
CBS, owned by Paramount, wanted to merge with media giant Skydance but needed Federal Trade Commission OK. But everything is transactional for Trump: hand us the head of Colbert and you can have your merger. Simple. And they complied. Edward R. Murrow turned in his grave.
Trump is smart like a fox or cunning like a wolf, but it comes back to the First Amendment. The spirit of the law has been profoundly violated. Comic satire has great value. Even the Supreme Court noted this when it protected a ribald cartoon that lampooned the Rev. Jerry Falwell.
Said the Court, 'Despite their sometimes caustic nature, from the early cartoon portraying George Washington as an ass down to the present day, graphic depictions and satirical cartoons have played a prominent role in public and political debate.'
And we accept such satire and criticism as just a part of a free society.
Lyndon Johnson was virtually hounded out of office over his Vietnam policies in the mid-1960s. The cartoonists and TV hosts had a field day with his big ears and his unpopular policies. He was obsessed with coverage of his administration with three television sets blaring in his office at the same time.
Still, LBJ understood the spirit of the First Amendment, saying: "It is part of the price of leading this great and free nation to be the target of clever satirists. None of us should grow so somber or self-important as to deny the value of humor in our lives."
Donald Trump is not laughing. His scowl is fouling the spirit of freedom of speech. If he gets away with backdoor censorship, you can be sure he will be knocking at the front door of democracy soon enough. Rob Miraldi's First Amendment writing has won numerous awards. He taught journalism at the State University of New York for many years. Email: [e-mail]
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Trump's mistruths hurt freedom of speech | Opinion