What 1st Amendment? The President Defines “Free Speech”!

To reiterate Thatamp8217s an actual quote from the President of the United States of Americaamp160 It ainamp8217t to be certain amp8220fake newsamp8221Whatamp8217s more as MSNBCamp8217s Steve Benen remembered in a column last Friday amp8220Trumpamp8217s contempt for American journalism is deeply at odds with our constitutional principles including his assertion in 2017 that he considers it 39disgusting39 that the press amp8216is able to write whatever it wants to writeamp8217amp8221Makes me wonder if heamp8217s ever actually read the 1st Amendmentamp160 Let39s assume he has amp160In which case he just disagrees with it and he and some of his Republican allies are moving to help weaken if not quash itamp160 As Politico reported amp8220President Donald Trump told loyal social media personalities and lawmakers at a White House summit Thursday that he intends to push government action against Silicon Valley as he railed against tech companies over allegations of anticonservative biasamp160 amp8216Today Iamp8217m directing my administration to explore all regulatory and legislative solutions to protect free speech and the free speech rights of all Americansamp8217 Trump said in a seemingly extemporaneous speech in the East Room of the White Houseamp160 Attendee Sen Marsha Blackburn RTenn a longtime Trump ally promised to lead a similar exploration in the Senate during a questionandanswer session with the president following the public portion of the summit a person who attended that closeddoor session told Politico amp160Blackburn said the Senate Judiciary Committee will convene a task force with her at the helm to probe the power of tech titans according to the person amp160A Blackburn spokesperson confirmed that she39s leading the inquiryamp8221Letamp8217s be clear hereamp160 The White House and allies are doubling down on their ongoing effort to neutralize the 1st Amendmentamp160 Just mouthing off amp8220fake newsamp8221 wasnamp8217t enoughamp160 Now they are trying to use two arms of government to hammer home that the only thing any American should trust is whatever the President says tweets lies or mumbles amp8230 even if it involves Revolutionary War airportsThis President even brags about his liesamp160 Several minutes intoamp160that social media summit at the White House he grew nostalgic reminiscing on some of his greatest Twitter hits amp160amp8220Remember when I said somebody was spying on meamp8221amp160he asked adding thatamp160amp8220somebodyamp8221 was President Barack Obama amp160Trump was referring to a series of his own tweets in March 2017 in which he falselyamp160and with no evidence offeredamp160accused his predecessor of committing what would probably have been an illegal act amp160amp8220This is NixonWatergateamp8221 Trump wrote in one missive amp8220Bad or sick guyamp8221But to hear Trump tell it now the entire controversy which gripped the nation for weeks was simply a lark a convenient way for him to boost his social media following into the stratosphere while dominating the conversation here on EarthAll media and entertainment entities need to push back even harder nowRandom NotesRetransmission consent as Iamp8217ve often written is a travestyamp160 amp160Locast is a neat way to work around the problemamp160 amp160The service retransmits as a nonprofit following all the iamp8217s and tamp8217s to dot and crossamp160amp160 BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield agreesamp160 amp8220We believe donating to Locast is the single smartest move any MVPDvMVPD can make today as it offers the potential to slow or even reverse the surging retrans costs that are crushing the pricevalue equation of the multichannel bundle Hopefully others will follow ATampampTamp8217s lead beyond Comcast which is conflicted by its NBC ownershipamp8221 he wrote amp160DittoClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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What 1st Amendment? The President Defines “Free Speech”!

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Paul S. Maxwell

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What 1st Amendment? The President Defines “Free Speech”!

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