Former President Donald Trump released the first salvo on Thursday, Dec. 15, in his efforts to win the 2024 election. In what looks to be just the initial platform – with more pillars to follow – 45 hit every hot-button issue related to free speech and digital censorship. Listing Executive Orders, instructions to Congress, and potential firings, Trump rode the wave of anger and resentment over the one-sided deplatforming of conservatives at the hands of big tech in collusion with federal officers that so recently came to light with the Twitter Files.
During his four years in office, The Donald’s off-the-cuff comments and late-night social media whirlwinds caused consternation among Republicans, many of whom openly admit that, temperament aside, the president was solid on policy. And it seems that with this latest video detailing his plans, he intends to run his campaign on major populist issues that are likely to be a big draw for his base and beyond.
Free Speech Free from the Fed?
“Within hours of my inauguration, I will sign an executive order banning any federal department or agency from colluding with any organization, business, or person, to censor, limit, categorize, or impede the lawful speech of American citizens,” Trump began. Referencing the Twitter data reported on by journalists Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi, news that a number of government agencies made direct appeals to media platforms to remove or throttle content has become a political hot potato.
“The censorship cartel must be dismantled and destroyed — and it must happen immediately,” Trump said. He continued:
“I will then ban federal money from being used to label domestic speech as ‘mis-‘or ‘dis-information.’ And I will begin the process of identifying and firing every federal bureaucrat who has engaged in domestic censorship — directly or indirectly — whether they are the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the DOJ, no matter who they are.”
Further, he detailed that a seven-year employment “cooling off period” on handling US consumer records would be imposed to stop the revolving door between the alphabet agencies and big tech. This proposal is likely in response to the firing of Jim Baker from Twitter – a former FBO general counsel – who was instrumental in the site burying the Hunter Biden laptop story. In fact, Baker has quite the track record. He was also heavily involved in the investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 election.
Donald Trump (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
As he attempted during his first term, Trump once again pledged to revamp Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The former president said he would sign a bill “revising section 230 to get big online platforms” out of the censorship business, continuing that these platforms “should only qualify for immunity protection under section 230 if they meet high standards of neutrality, transparency, fairness, and non-discrimination.”
A Pugilistic President
Never one to shy away from naming names and taking swings, Trump said the “Twitter Files” revealed “that a sinister group of Deep State bureaucrats, Silicon Valley tyrants, left-wing activists, and depraved corporate news media have been conspiring to manipulate and silence the American People.” And if this language sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it’s just the type of talk that won him the White House six years ago.
Part of Trump’s 2016 success was painting himself as the underdog against a vast cabal of shadowy federal figures and agencies – AKA The Swamp. With Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and the revelations that the government has been working with tech companies to stifle free speech online, it appears the 45th president may have been handed an early Christmas gift.
