As Donald Trump sparks a new national conversation about his hostility toward free speech, the free press and the rights of American protesters, the president had an opportunity to demonstrate that he hasn’t completely given up on the First Amendment.
On his way back from his trip to the U.K., he did the opposite. CNBC reported:
President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that the federal government might revoke the licenses of broadcast television networks that are ‘against’ him. Trump’s comment came a day after ABC suspended airing the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ show because of comments its host made linking the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to Trump’s MAGA movement.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “I have read someplace that the networks were 97% against me, again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily, all seven swing states. … They give me only bad publicity, press. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”
As with many of the numbers the Republican likes to throw around at random, the 97% statistic was absurd. (Bill Lueders recently wrote for The Bulwark, “Whatever the claim, the president has the numbers to prove it, even if he has to make them up.”)
For that matter, while Trump’s rhetoric about revoking the broadcast licenses of networks that displease him was certainly radical, it is also familiar: He’s peddled this same line for roughly eight years.
Part of the president’s pitch, however, was new. From the same Q&A: When you have a network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump. That’s all they do. If you go back, I guess they haven’t had a conservative on in years or something somebody said. But when you go back, take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that. They’re an arm of the Democrat [sic] Party. To the extent that reality still has any meaning, the First Amendment also applies to “evening shows.” They are “allowed” to criticize the president, praise him or some combination therein, at ratios of their choosing, with whichever guests they choose. I can say this with confidence because we still live in a free country, whether the president understands this or not.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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