“That was our first inkling that this was going to be someone [who] will use his governmental powers to go after free speech,” said the Texas congresswoman.
Democrats are decrying what they say is President Donald Trump‘s wholesale attack on free speech in America after a series of actions in recent weeks, from the attempted cancellation of comedian Jimmy Kimmel from his late-night show to the recent indictment of Trump’s longtime political foe, former FBI Director James Comey.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, among the many Democrats condemning the Trump administration, explained that Trump’s attacks on free speech can be traced back to his first term and the storied NFL controversy related to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“One of the things that I’ve been trying to make sure that people understand is that Colin Kaepernick, that was our first inkling that this was going to be someone [who] will use his governmental powers to go after free speech,” Crockett told MSNBC of Trump, who she noted has also attempted to, though unsuccessfully, use the executive branch to fire Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook.
In 2017, Trump bragged about his role in Kaepernick’s inability to be signed by an NFL team as a free agent. Kaepernick famously protested the National Anthem at NFL games over the treatment of Black Americans by police and the criminal justice system. The then 45th president of the United States recalled reading a recent news article that reported about NFL owners being scared to sign Kaepernick “because they don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump.”
When Kaepernick and several other athletes began protesting the National Anthem, Trump forcefully spoke out and called their actions unpatriotic and a “disrespect” of the American flag. Trump infamously said of Kaepernick and other NFL protesters, “Get that son of a b*tch off the field…he’s fired!”
Critics of Trump noted that protesting the country’s treatment of Black Americans was not only American but a First Amendment right. But Crockett noted that at the height of Trump’s political pressure on the NFL, “We kind of shrugged it off.”
“Either you agreed with what he was talking about or you didn’t, and you let it go, and that’s not what speech is supposed to be about,” she explained. “It’s not whether or not you agree, it’s whether or not you are able to do it freely.”
Many fret about the strength of free speech during Trump’s second term, as media companies, law firms, college campuses, and others are seemingly being silenced by fear of the president’s retaliation. Congresswoman Crockett said now is not the time for Americans to cower to Trump’s political will.
“I want the American people to know that when you stand up to a bully, you win. Do not back down. Do not bend,” said Crockett. “If everybody starts to bend, for sure, what is left of our democracy will be gone. And unfortunately, that is exactly what he wants.”
