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Donald Trump’s epic failure in Alaska this week will get a lot of attention. As much fun as it would be for me to go through all the ways he embarrassed himself and our country, how he was maneuvered and abased by Vladimir Putin on our soil, I know others will tell that story. I want instead to focus on Trump’s sinister efforts to erase the First Amendment.
The first amendment protects the freedoms of religion, assembly, speech, the press, and petition. America is unthinkable without it.
In their lawless effort to gain total control, Donald Trump and his MAGA movement want it gone.
The attack is ongoing, and broad.
Trump, his Congress, and his Supreme Court are undermining the freedom of religion. They are working to impose one strain of Christian nationalism on us all. They have moved to impose religious texts and objects in elementary school classrooms. Their sect believes that god made America a white, Christian, male-controlled nation and they have imposed that view by purging non-white and female Americans from every position of leadership in the military. This is the very kind of religious establishment that the founders feared.
The right to petition still exists, but it has been transformed into a right to bribe. Remember, Trump recently accepted a gold iPhone stand from the Apple CEO Tim Cook and tariff relief promptly followed. The Trump family is reportedly nearly $4 billion richer than it was when he entered office.
Trump has even found a way to link his attack on freedom of religion and his penchant for pocketing other people’s cash. In Oklahoma, the state Superintendent of Schools, Ryan Walters, is demanding that the Oklahoma Supreme Court lift its injunction and allow him to buy Trump bibles — yes, there is a Trump endorsed bible — for thousands of public school classrooms.
President Trump himself has attacked the freedom of assembly. He did it in his first term when he ordered the military to clear Lafayette Park so he could hold up a bible for a photo op. He is doing it now as he deploys the National Guard and federal troops in our cities and calls those who protest against his regime thugs and very bad people. He frequently threatens to use the Insurrection Act to quell dissent.
But the crackdown on free speech and the press deserves special attention. Jefferson thought a free press was the most important defense the people have in a democracy. Trump and his allies have abused their powers to bring it to heel.
Last week, a court ruled in the case of [ [link removed] ]Media Matters v the Federal Trade Commission [ [link removed] ]. [ [link removed] ]The ruling tells a frightening story.
Media Matters is a pro-democracy news organization. Since it was founded in 2003, it has broken important stories and aggressively attacked disinformation. Its most important niche in our media ecosystem is the one that drives the right-wing craziest — it investigates and sheds light on the corrupt and interconnected world of right-wing media figures and politicians.
In November 2023, Media Matters reported [ [link removed] ]that advertisements on X were appearing next to antisemitic and pro-Nazi posts on the platform. Advertisers fled the platform.
Instead of promising to fix the problem, Elon Musk vowed to file “a thermonuclear lawsuit,” and he did. He sued Media Matters in courts all over the world. Musk’s ally, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller, urged state attorneys general to sue as well. Missouri and Texas dutifully followed through by issuing civil investigative demands (CIDs) — basically discovery in civil cases. All of this was expensive and time-consuming for Media Matters to defend.
They had to cut back. They lost staff and they cut back criticism of the Trump administration and of Musk as part of an effort to settle. But Musk wanted them out of business, and he had the money to bleed them to death.
While this case was pending CBS and ABC settled frivolous suits by paying large sums to Trump for his library. CBS even agreed to a government monitor of its news content. This is, of course, absolutely in conflict with the idea of a free press.
According to the New York Times [ [link removed] ], one of Media Matters’ donors argued that it was time to shut down. They refused and they fought on. They won injunctions against Musk’s globally aggressive litigation strategy and against the State Attorneys general CIDs. That should have been the end of it. But that wasn’t the end. Trump’s Federal Trade Commission stepped in to investigate what it alleged was an advertiser boycott illegally led by Media Matters.
On Friday, a judge ruled [ [link removed] ]. And the opinion is a blockbuster. D.C. Circuit Court judge Sparkle Sooknanan wrote:
“It should alarm all Americans when the Government retaliates against individuals or organizations for engaging in constitutionally protected public debate. And that alarm should ring even louder when the Government retaliates against those engaged in news gathering and reporting.”
The evidence showed that FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson had it out for Media Matters. Even before he was nominated, Ferguson went on Steve Bannon’s podcast to argue that the government needed to crack down on “progressives” who are “fighting disinformation.” Imagine that? The government should crack down on those fighting disinformation. And that, it seems was all it took to get him the top job at the FTC.
The court found that Media Matters “engaged in quintessential First Amendment activity when it published an online article criticizing Mr. Musk and X. And the Court finds that the FTC’s expansive CID is a retaliatory act.”
Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone responded [ [link removed] ]to the court ruling saying:
“The court’s ruling demonstrates the importance of fighting over folding, which far too many are doing when confronted with intimidation from the Trump administration. This case is not just about the campaign to punish and silence Media Matters, however. It is a critical test for whether the courts will allow any administration - from any political party - to bully media and non-profit organizations through illegal abuses of power. We will continue to stand up and fight for the First Amendment rights that protect every American.”
The case isn’t over. This is a preliminary injunction. But it laid bare the administration’s abuse of power in the service of Trump’s desire to destroy the first amendment’s protections of speech and the press.
And these are the guys who argue all day long that they are all for free speech and against censorship of any kind. Of course, they are also the same guys who think Donald Trump didn’t embarrass himself and our country when Putin made a fool of him, again — this time in our own country.
It is no longer reasonable to doubt that they are dangerous fascists bent on destroying our democracy. They have enormous power. They abuse that power. If we care about our freedom, we all must work together to oust them from office.
Edwin Eisendrath hosts the upcoming Lincoln Square Show, “It’s the Democracy, Stupid” and "The Big Picture" on WCPT820 AM/ Heartland Signal. [ [link removed] ] He's the former CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times, a long-time management consultant, a former Chicago Alderman, HUD Regional Administrator and teacher in Chicago's public schools. You can follow him on BlueSky at eisendrath.net [ [link removed] ] and Substack at “It’s the Democracy, Stupid.” [ [link removed] ] Read the original column here [ [link removed] ].
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