Latest news with #theRight
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump and Republicans love free speech – as long as it agrees with them
Republicans may claim to be the party of free speech, but Donald Trump is making it clear that anyone who disagrees with him will be silenced – including college students who protest the war in Gaza. In a Truth Social post Tuesday, the president threatened to pull federal funding from universities that allow 'illegal protests,' and vowed to arrest, expel and/or deport so-called agitators. A spokesperson for the Trump administration did not answer questions about what protests the president is deeming 'illegal,' although it's hard not to see this as a reaction to the pro-Palestinian protests we saw last year. Student protest is vital to American democracy. It is within these young people's right to speak their mind about issues on and off their campuses. I fear what it means for our First Amendment rights as a country if universities comply with Trump's demands. Opinion: Did you vote for Trump? Do you support his actions and policies now? Tell us. Trump is doing this, he says, because the kids have gotten too radical. Earlier this year, in an executive order to 'combat anti-Semitism,' the president threatened the student visas of anyone who participated in 'pro-jihadist protests.' People are allowed to disagree with the federal government's way of doing things. They are allowed to protest wars they don't want, just as they are allowed to protest Trump, gun violence or racism. While Republicans have called themselves the party of free speech for years, they now seem like they won't be happy until everyone who speaks out against them is silenced. That's why the Associated Press lost access to the White House when it refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America' like Trump wanted. It's why the Trump administration is now handpicking who's allowed in the White House press pool. It's why Republicans are being told to cancel voter town halls and running scared instead of answering questions and defending the agenda they'll have you believe is a mandate. Opinion: Republicans would rather hide from their voters than face them and defend Trump All of these things, along with the student protest announcement, sends a message: There will be consequences for speaking out. Trump is clearly afraid of what happens when the protests come for him. If protests weren't effective, then the administration wouldn't be trying to keep them from happening. I have seen firsthand how student protests can lead to change, how a group of young people can shape a university, a town, a nation. After the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally on the University of Virginia's campus, calls grew for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to remove 'Silent Sam,' the Confederate monument that sat at the front of the university's campus. The night before classes began in 2018, Silent Sam would be torn from his pedestal, landing face down in the dirt where he belonged, never to be put up again. In the years since, a patch of grass has filled out the space where this participation trophy used to be, and my alma mater is better for it. That is progress, and it would not have happened without the outcry, the literal blood and sweat of student activists. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. Student activists were also responsible for change at the university following the denial of tenure to acclaimed New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones in 2021. Following a heated protest at the school's Board of Trustees meeting, the UNC Black Student Movement put out a list of demands for the university. While not all their demands were met, there were still changes – proof that students can, in fact, shape the way their universities operate. While UNC-CH is far from perfect, these student protests made our university reckon with its history and present missteps. Now, I fear future generations won't be able to have those conversations at all because Republicans are afraid of having them. Free speech advocates quickly voiced their concern about Trump's post. 'President Trump needs to stand by his past promise to be a champion for free expression,' the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) said Tuesday. 'That means doing so for all views ‒ including those his administration dislikes.' It's true – if we don't stand for free speech as a country, what do we stand for? Trump's move to criminalize protest is a move to criminalize our freedom to say what we want. To try to curb conversations on college campuses will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on universities and the nation. But I guess trying to erase thought and conversation through governmental action is how the Republican Party now protects free speech. Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump wants to charge protesters. What free speech? | Opinion
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump and Republicans love free speech – as long as it agrees with them
Republicans may claim to be the party of free speech, but Donald Trump is making it clear that anyone who disagrees with him will be silenced – including college students who protest the war in Gaza. In a Truth Social post Tuesday, the president threatened to pull federal funding from universities that allow 'illegal protests,' and vowed to arrest, expel and/or deport so-called agitators. A spokesperson for the Trump administration did not answer questions about what protests the president is deeming 'illegal,' although it's hard not to see this as a reaction to the pro-Palestinian protests we saw last year. Student protest is vital to American democracy. It is within these young people's right to speak their mind about issues on and off their campuses. I fear what it means for our First Amendment rights as a country if universities comply with Trump's demands. Opinion: Did you vote for Trump? Do you support his actions and policies now? Tell us. Trump is doing this, he says, because the kids have gotten too radical. Earlier this year, in an executive order to 'combat anti-Semitism,' the president threatened the student visas of anyone who participated in 'pro-jihadist protests.' People are allowed to disagree with the federal government's way of doing things. They are allowed to protest wars they don't want, just as they are allowed to protest Trump, gun violence or racism. While Republicans have called themselves the party of free speech for years, they now seem like they won't be happy until everyone who speaks out against them is silenced. That's why the Associated Press lost access to the White House when it refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America' like Trump wanted. It's why the Trump administration is now handpicking who's allowed in the White House press pool. It's why Republicans are being told to cancel voter town halls and running scared instead of answering questions and defending the agenda they'll have you believe is a mandate. Opinion: Republicans would rather hide from their voters than face them and defend Trump All of these things, along with the student protest announcement, sends a message: There will be consequences for speaking out. Trump is clearly afraid of what happens when the protests come for him. If protests weren't effective, then the administration wouldn't be trying to keep them from happening. I have seen firsthand how student protests can lead to change, how a group of young people can shape a university, a town, a nation. After the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally on the University of Virginia's campus, calls grew for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to remove 'Silent Sam,' the Confederate monument that sat at the front of the university's campus. The night before classes began in 2018, Silent Sam would be torn from his pedestal, landing face down in the dirt where he belonged, never to be put up again. In the years since, a patch of grass has filled out the space where this participation trophy used to be, and my alma mater is better for it. That is progress, and it would not have happened without the outcry, the literal blood and sweat of student activists. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. Student activists were also responsible for change at the university following the denial of tenure to acclaimed New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones in 2021. Following a heated protest at the school's Board of Trustees meeting, the UNC Black Student Movement put out a list of demands for the university. While not all their demands were met, there were still changes – proof that students can, in fact, shape the way their universities operate. While UNC-CH is far from perfect, these student protests made our university reckon with its history and present missteps. Now, I fear future generations won't be able to have those conversations at all because Republicans are afraid of having them. Free speech advocates quickly voiced their concern about Trump's post. 'President Trump needs to stand by his past promise to be a champion for free expression,' the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) said Tuesday. 'That means doing so for all views ‒ including those his administration dislikes.' It's true – if we don't stand for free speech as a country, what do we stand for? Trump's move to criminalize protest is a move to criminalize our freedom to say what we want. To try to curb conversations on college campuses will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on universities and the nation. But I guess trying to erase thought and conversation through governmental action is how the Republican Party now protects free speech. Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump wants to charge protesters. What free speech? | Opinion
