President Donald Trump has made it clear that he is willing to infringe on Americans' freedom of speech when it suits his interests, and the only people who may be able to convince him otherwise are MAGA personalities like Tucker Carlson, one analyst argued in a new Substack essay.
Journalist G. Elliott Morris, who writes the data-driven political newsletter "Strength in Numbers," argued in a new essay that the new identity of Trump's Republican Party is so "factional" that it is nearly incapable of listening to criticism from people outside the party. That seems to be one reason why Trump continues to attack free speech without recourse from his base, even though 91% of Americans believe “protecting free speech is an important part of American democracy," according to a 2022 Ipsos/Knight Foundation poll Morris cited.
That also means that the only people who may be able to convince Trump to change course are those aligned with Trump's MAGA base, like Tucker Carlson or Elon Musk, Morris argued.
"Those on the inside have the best chance to convince Trump to take a step back," Morris wrote. "This is, of course, a terrifying prospect."
Morris added that GOP lawmakers have also been ineffective at countering Trump because of the sway he holds over their bases.
"I hate to say it, but the future of U.S. free speech rights may now rest in the hands of people like Tucker Carlson," Morris wrote. "That’s because Democrats are not going to convince Trump/Stephen Miller/Bondi/etc, to back down from their murder-induced rage against the Constitution."