Josh Shapiro on Kimmel: Freedom of Speech Is Being Undermined by the Long Arm of the Federal Gov’t, ‘It’s Extremely Dangerous’
RUSH EXCERPT:
SHAPIRO: "Fear. Worry, for our country. Our foundational principle in this country, which has roots in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, William Penn when he settled in the 1680s, it’s about freedom of expression, freedom of speech. And to see that being undermined by the long arm of the federal government, is extremely dangerous. Again, whether you agree with Jimmy Kimmel or not, whether you found him funny or not, to fire someone because he told a joke about the president and the president didn’t like it, to fire him because he was in artful in his words in the killing of Charlie Kirk would have others in the media and I know — I mean no disrespect, who are on artful everyday, when we are selectively firing people because of their viewpoints. And in addition to having Jimmy Kimmel no longer on the air. I think there is a deeper issue that I wanted to just take a moment for. I was on a Spanish-language radio program in the allentown area just the other day. The host was asking me a bunch of questions about the work we are doing here in Pennsylvania. And he said something really chilling to me. He now has two think about what topics he’s going to discuss because he is fearful that he might offend federal regulators or offend the president. This wasn’t that type of a program where we were engaged in a lot of that conversation but the fact that you have journalists now, who will thing, do I really want to probe some elected leader on that particular topic because it could offend federal regulators. I want to tell that joke because it might put someone off, do I want to adjust my views to be more on the right-wing side of the political conversation to curry favor with these federal regulators. That, in many ways, is even more dangerous than silencing one person. I think we are at a really dangerous moment here. And censorship and what we are seeing from the federal government, only serves to further divide us and make us less safe and erode our fundamental freedoms here in this country, and for a Republican Party led by Donald Trump, who loved, for decades, to cloak themselves in this blanket of patriotism and freedom. Donald Trump was talking about free speech in his inaugural address 7 to 8 months ago. And now, to see how quickly they are eroding one of the foundational guideposts of our nation, that should scare everyone, whether you agree with the president or not. Whether you voted for him or not. We are all less safe and less free because of the actions of this administration."
