Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:34 pm
Journalists are expressing concern that President-elect Donald Trump’s tweets attacking the cast of Hamilton are a signal of how the next president intends to suppress free speech.
Gabriel Sherman of New York Magazine tweeted:
Trump's Hamilton tweet is a terrifying glimpse of how he could attempt to suppress free speech. It should be openly condemned, esp by GOP
— Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) November 19, 2016
Maggie Haberman of The New York Times tweeted:
Taking protest and mischaracterizing it to excite supporters = gaslighting https://t.co/58UVhZVScU
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 19, 2016
This is the Trump lens on most things – he does almost everything w PR in mind, and assumes everyone else does too https://t.co/58UVhZVScU
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 19, 2016
And this is the flip side of the booing/why dissent is significant in Constitutional democracy https://t.co/QgA1lmMvNj
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 19, 2016
Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker tweeted:
.@BrandonVDixon told crowd not to boo, asked Trump and Pence to "work on behalf of all of us" and Trump thinks it's harassment. Be afraid. https://t.co/HoXiYticxZ
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) November 19, 2016
Journalists understand that the point of Trump’s tweets about the cast of Hamilton were to intimidate and shut them up. The president-elect demonstrated that he has no respect for free speech, whether it be the booing of a crowd or the words of an opponent. The cast of Hamilton was not harassing Mike Pence. They told the crowd not to boo their guest.
The message that future President Trump was sending with his tweets was clear. Anyone who voices displeasure with or opposition to the Trump administration will be attacked and smeared. Trump’s disrespect for the constitutional rights of the American people should place all citizens on alert.
Trump’s Hamilton tweets weren’t an outburst. They were a warning about the free speech suppression that is yet to come.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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