Welcome to The Fill From the Hill, a recurring political column where University Times writers dissect the key political topics and controversies in the news, from domestic politics to international affairs. This week, one writer tackles The First Amendment and the current administration’s actions against it.
- – –
The First Amendment, which covers the American people’s rights to Freedom of the Press, Freedom to Protest, and Freedom of Speech has been a high profile talking point for some time now.
Democrats think that Republicans are trying to strip away these rights with actions like their recent deportation efforts, while Republicans think that “wokeness” and “cancel culture” are being weaponized to silence their voices.
Despite claiming to be for free speech and expression, the current administration has taken several steps to curtail speech it doesn’t condone. This includes threatening to withhold federal funding to universities that allow students to participate in “illegal protests” after a summer of pro-Palestinian demonstrations, as well as detaining individuals like Mahmoud Khalil here under the guise of “national security concerns.”
The administration has also repeatedly called out news outlets such as the Associated Press, who were briefly removed from the White House Press Corp due to them refusing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt went as far as to say about the AP, “If we feel there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable.”
After they were reinstated, the AP went on to have a brief argument with Leavitt over her knowledge of tariffs. Reporter Josh Boak asked “I’m sorry, have you ever paid a tariff?” to which Leavitt immediately slammed him and said, “I now regret giving a question to The Associated Press.”
Now that the table is set, let’s get into our views on the current discussion about Freedom of Speech.
Samuel Valencia: Freedom of Speech is under direct attack by the Trump Administration. It’s ironic that the Republican Party will swear that they are the party of the people yet time and time again they will do everything in their power to betray their constituents.
The president is no stranger to attacking those who criticize him, but his return to the White House make his threats something more than just petulant rants. He has claimed several times that the Biden administration weaponized the justice department to hound him, but now he’s in prime position to actually make that a reality.
His vindictiveness is wide-ranging and erratic, but he has made several retaliatory moves already that should be warning signs for the rest of the next four years. He revoked the security clearance for everyone in the Biden family as well as any of his previous opponents like Kamala Harris or Hillary Clinton.
Then there’s the retaliation against the Press. changing how the White House Press Corps works, with the administration hand-picking journalists to cover the president. Obviously they framed this as giving power back to the people but that is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This is a blatant attempt to reign in the American media and only push the agenda that Trump wants.
Even looking past my position as a student journalist, these actions against the mainstream news media terrify me. While this isn’t a new thing for him, his return to power after four years of the news constantly poking him has made his wrath a genuine fear.
Aided by Elon Musk and the echo chamber that is X, formally known as Twitter, Trump can push his lies and falsely framed narratives to millions across the country. Between the two of them, Trump and Musk have been able to convince the American public of so many things that are just so blatantly untrue.
It’s become abundantly clear that the fear of strong and unmitigated retaliation has taken hold of these outlets and forced their hand to reel in their actual thoughts. We saw this clear as day when Jeff Bezos censored the Washington Post Editorial Board from endorsing a candidate in the 2024 election.
The job of journalists in our democracy has never been more important than it is now, and my only hope is that any news outlet that wishes to maintain journalistic integrity will continue to stand up to the Trump administration.
