(DCNF)—British MSNBC contributor Katty Kay on Monday pondered why former President Donald Trump has the right to speak openly about the Democrat-led prosecutions he has faced.
Trump has consistently spoken out about the cases against him, characterizing them as “election interference” and a “sham.” Kay on “Morning Joe” questioned MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade about why Trump is able to make these remarks and what dangers this ability may pose.
WATCH:
MSNBC Contributor Wonders Why Trump Is 'Allowed' To Speak Freely About Dem-Led Prosecutions pic.twitter.com/mtuQBM8p6w
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 10, 2024
“Somebody actually just last week from the U.K. was asking me, ‘how is it that Donald Trump can stand outside the courtroom and say the system was rigged, this was a sham trial, it was a corrupt judge?’ … What he was suggesting is that in the U.K., you wouldn’t be allowed to say that because it’s a danger, there … to the system itself, that it is a form of incitement to violence, but I guess here it’s a free speech issue. We’ve also seen the former president say that there was this huge raid in Mar-a-Lago and that they came in kind of guns blazing as it were, suggesting that, again, that’s the way that they went into Mar-a-Lago was exactly as they should have gone into Mar-a-Lago. The FBI. What is the danger of when he says things like that? And why is he allowed to say things like that?” Kay asked.
Trump is still under a gag order, imposed by Judge Juan Merchan in his Manhattan trial in the case brought by Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg where a jury found him guilty. The order prevents the former president from making public statements about witnesses, prosecutors other than the district attorney, court staff and jurors, as well as family members of the staff, district attorney or judge.
“Well first, let’s talk about why he’s allowed to say things like that. I believe he is someone, like others, who actually exploits our First Amendment to free speech,” McQuade said. “He knows where the lines are. He goes right up to them. Sometimes he tiptoes over them. But mostly, he includes a few throwaway lines to try to keep within the boundaries. Here in the United States, we have a cherished First Amendment right to free speech, even ugly speech, even sometimes dangerous speech. And the Supreme Court has placed the bar on what becomes criminal or prohibited speech really quite high,” McQuade answered.
“The court … held that speech may only be prohibited in that dangerous situation where there is an intent to cause imminent lawless action and a likelihood of causing that result,” McQuade added. “Now, I think there’s an argument that that bar was crossed on January 6th. But when Donald Trump says these things at the courthouse, it may be planting ideas in people’s minds, but it’s probably not rising to that level of imminent lawless action. But what does it do? What is the outcome of that? It does have an effect, as you mentioned, especially, let’s take that example of Mar-a-Lago. Donald Trump falsely claimed not only that the FBI came in with guns blazing but they planted false evidence in his home … When these things are said, it may be that many people roll their eyes, some people may believe it, but there are people out there who will take that as a call to action. And we know that based on past experiences. So it is incredibly reckless simply to utter these phrases.”
An MSNBC panel in May burst into laughter about Trump’s inability to conduct a typical reelection campaign because of the gag order hindering his speech, linking the order to the former president’s upcoming debate with President Joe Biden where microphones will be shut off during the other candidate’s speaking time.
“Donald Trump does have some experience with having his mic cut off. Which is he’s been sitting in court and wanting very badly to respond to everything with his mic cut off,” NBC News senior national politics reporter Jonathan Allen said, prompting laughter from his fellow panelists. “So it’ll be interesting to see if he’s able to do that in a debate. But he has definitely had his mouth shut over the course of the last several weeks.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].
Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
But even as it seems nearly impossible to make a living, there are blessings that should not be disregarded. By highlighting strong sponsors who share our America First worldview, we have been able to make lifelong connections and even a bit of revenue to help us along. This is why we enjoy symbiotic relationships with companies like MyPillow, Jase Medical, and Promised Grounds. We help them with our recommendations and they reward us with money when our audience buys from them.
The same can be said about our preparedness sponsor, Prepper All-Naturals. Their long-term storage beef has a 25-year shelf life and is made with one ingredient: All-American Beef.
Even our faith-driven precious metals sponsor helps us tremendously while also helping Americans protect their life’s savings. We are blessed to work with them.
Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
