Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s recent comments on MSNBC have raised eyebrows, particularly among First Amendment advocates. Walz claimed that there is no guarantee of free speech when it comes to “misinformation” or “hate speech,” especially in the context of democracy. However, this stance is at odds with the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in 2017, which held that speech that demeans individuals based on certain characteristics is still protected by the First Amendment.
Walz’s running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, has also demonstrated a willingness to censor speech she disagrees with. In 2019, she called on Facebook and Twitter to censor then-President Donald Trump, even before the January 6 Capitol riot. Harris’s position was so extreme that Senator Elizabeth Warren pushed back, arguing that Trump should be kicked out of the White House, not off social media.
Harris’s history of using government power to silence conservative voices is well-documented. As California’s attorney general, she demanded that conservative nonprofit organizations turn over sensitive IRS documents, claiming it was necessary to combat fraud. However, she failed to identify a single case where the collection of data assisted an actual fraud investigation. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Harris, holding that her efforts to intimidate conservative voices by abusing IRS power violated the First Amendment.
Harris has also targeted judicial nominees for their membership in conservative organizations. She grilled Judge Brian Buescher about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, implying that his affiliation disqualified him from public service.
The term “misinformation” has become a catch-all phrase for Democrats like Walz and Harris, who use it to describe any information they disagree with. A recent example is the Global Disinformation Index‘s list of conservative websites that advertisers should avoid, which included this publication. Our alleged crime? Accurately reporting on a poll that found conservative women were happier with their family life than liberal women.
A Harris-Walz administration would likely declare war on the First Amendment, using the guise of fighting “misinformation” to censor inconvenient information. They would likely use antitrust enforcement to browbeat social media platforms into compliance, and would weaponize the Department of Justice to target conservative organizations and individuals. The IRS would also be used to harass conservative groups and bully conservative individuals.
