A Washington Post columnist — known for not pulling any punches with Republicans on CNN — opined Thursday evening that MAGA's recent "free speech" crusade is an attempt to do quite the opposite.
Catherine Rampell called out President Donald Trump and his day one signing of an executive order titled, “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship.”
"This might have sounded like banal lip service, reaffirming commitment to the First Amendment. In reality, it was the start of an Orwellian effort to root out wrongthink from government ranks and the private sector," she wrote in a column for the paper.
instead of promoting free speech, Trump's order effectively silenced science, she said. Government agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Energy Department effectively went dark in communications. In another instance, a legal scholar's planned meeting with a federal prosecutor was canceled in which they were to discuss how German lawyers helped create the Nazi state.
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"You can’t make these things up," wrote Rampell, who earlier in the week sparred with a Republican on CNN over Elon Musk's gesture constituted a Nazi salute.
Other chilling instances: an executive order that said the government would withhold federal funding for public schools that teach "unconscious bias" and a tipline where federal workers can rat on their colleagues in diversity, equity and inclusion roles.
"Trump has appointed himself top language cop — and he is determined to earn his keep," wrote Rampell.
With Musk and his deep pockets at Trump's side — a fellow self-described champion of free speech — Rampell concluded: "With saviors like these, who needs enemies?"
