Free Speech Is on the Ballot: Jonathan Turley Shreds Harris for Her Hostility to the 1st Amendment

  

We’ve written about Jonathan Turley plenty because he’s an interesting voice, he’s not hyperpartisan, and he calls it like he sees it. Also, he’s the Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law at The George Washington University Law School, where he teaches torts, criminal procedure, and constitutional law, so he knows what he’s talking about.

Advertisement

And what he’s talking about right now is the danger that presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, pose to free speech rights in the U.S. Both have gone on record arguing that the First Amendment is malleable and that speech should be censored if they don’t like the viewpoints being expressed.

The undynamic duo regards our First Amendment rights merely as a privilege that can be taken from you according to their whims:

Talking about his new book, the professor brought the receipts on Kamala’s past banana-republic-style statements:

In my book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss how the Biden-Harris Administration has proven to be the most anti-free speech administration since John Adams. That includes a massive censorship system described by one federal judge as perfectly “Orwellian.”

In the CNN interview, Harris displays many of the anti-free speech inclinations discussed earlier. She strongly suggests that X should be shut down if it does not yield to demands for speech regulation.

What is most chilling is how censorship and closure are Harris’s default positions when faced with unfettered speech. She declares to CNN that such unregulated free speech “has to stop” and that there is a danger to the country when people are allowed to “directly speak to millions and millions of people without any level of oversight and regulation.”

Advertisement

Here she is in 2019, shamelessly calling for Donald Trump to be muzzled (which he was):

Turley was appalled:

The “joy” being sold by Harris includes the promise of the removal of viewpoints that many on the left feel are intolerable or triggering on social media. Where Biden was viewed as an opportunist in embracing censorship, Harris is a true believer.  Like Walz, she has long espoused a shockingly narrow view of free speech that is reflective of the wider anti-free speech movement in higher education.

Related: Zuck ‘Regrets’ Yielding to WH Pressure to Censor Facebook Users. Jonathan Turley Says That’s Nonsense.

Jonathan Turley Skewers the WaPo Over Belated Admission on Biden’s Decline and the White House Coverup

The professor has a stark message for the electorate: your right to express yourself is on the ballot this November [emphasis mine].

[The election in 1800 where Thomas Jefferson defeated incumbent John Adams] was the only presidential election in our history where free speech was a central issue for voters. It should be again. 

While democracy is really not on the ballot this election, free speech is.

Advertisement

Turley is 100 percent right in his analysis, and Americans need to keep this firmly in mind as they cast their votes this fall: we’re facing a stark choice between freedom and autocracy.

RedState is the kind of site that Harris and Walz would love to take down. Why? Because we bring you the news that the mainstream corporate press won’t, and we don’t bow to “the narrative.” 

One way we’re able to do that is through our VIP program. Consider becoming a member today; you’ll not only be supporting independent journalism, but you’ll also get access to VIP stories, videos, and content not available to non-members—and most importantly IMHO, you’ll get to participate in our raucous discussion boards.

Remember that a Gold-level account gets you access to all of our sister sites in Townhall Media: PJ Media, Twitchy, Hot Air, Bearing Arms, and Townhall.com.

If you’re already a VIP member, all of us here at RedState are deeply grateful for your support. If you’d like to do more, you can give someone a gift membership (you just need their email address).

Advertisement

Use code SAVEAMERICA for a hefty 50% discount. The battle has never been more important than it is now. Thank you for participating in the fight!