Analysis exposes pro-Trump Republicans’ 'wide-ranging assault on free speech'

21 February

SpaceX/Tesla/X.com CEO Elon Musk, chosen by President Donald Trump to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), often describes himself as a "free speech absolutist." And Musk is fond of saying that "free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy

But The Atlantic's David A. Graham, in an article published on February 20, argues that Musk, like Trump, only champions "free speech" when it involves viewpoints he agrees with.

Graham points to Musk's comments on a CBS News interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris for "60 Minutes" in 2024 as a glaring example of his inconsistency.

Musk claims that the interview was selectively edited to make Harris look good and help her win the presidential election — a claim CBS News denies. And Musk even described the interview as election interference.

In a February 16 post on X.com, formerly Twitter, Musk wrote, "60 Minutes are the biggest liars in the world! They engaged in deliberate deception to interfere with the last election. They deserve a long prison sentence."

Graham notes that Trump is calling for "60 Minutes" to be "terminated."

"The Federal Communications Commission initially rejected a complaint about the interview, but Brendan Carr — Trump's newly appointed FCC chair — reopened it and demanded that CBS release the transcript of the interview," Graham explains. "CBS did so, and to my read, the transcript establishes that CBS' use of the clips was not manipulative. Judicious editing is essential. I've interviewed many politicians, and much of what they say is incurably dull, nonsensical, or both, sometimes by design."

Graham continues, "The charge of 'election interference' doesn't make any sense, either — especially coming from Musk, who both is the owner of a major media platform and spent nearly $300 million to back Trump and other Republican candidates. The position of the Trump GOP appears to be that spending any amount of money on politics is free speech, but press outlets covering the campaign are interfering with it."

Graham describes the "bombardment of CBS" as "part of a wide-ranging assault on free speech" by MAGA Republicans.

Trump, Graham notes, describes "wokeness" as anti-free speech but banished an Associated Press (AP) reporter from White House news conferences for refusing to use "Gulf of America" instead of "Gulf of Mexico."

"A news outlet that is afraid of the government is an outlet whose speech is only partly free," Graham warns. "When media companies are afraid that the president will use regulators to punish their business, owners are anxious to protect non-media commercial interests. When journalists are wary of becoming targets for petty retribution, they may pull punches or shape coverage in ways that do not — and are not intended to — serve the public interest."

David A. Graham's full article for The Atlantic is available at this link (subscription required).

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