“Whoever would overthrow the Liberty of a Nation, must begin by subduing the Freeness of Speech; a Thing terrible to Publick Traytors.” — Benjamin Franklin, 1722
The Trump administration is escalating its attacks on the First Amendment by targeting institutions that challenge his agenda, including universities, law firms and federal judges. Ali Velshi points to the historical analog to today’s crisis, The Red Scare of the 1950s, which saw many public careers derailed in academics, politics and even entertainment. At the same time, anti-immigration forces took the opportunity to leverage the fear of immigrants and deport people who weren’t a threat — but dared to exercise their freedom of speech.
MAGA’s current Red Scare is targeting academic institutions — important centers of dissent and protest, through tactics like withholding federal funding from schools that support trans athletes and deporting students who took part in campus protests. “The consequences of this intellectual retreat are not theoretical,” Velshi laments.
In the 1950s, the U.S. government expelled hundreds of students during the Red Scare, deporting those who voiced ideas that bucked the status quo. Because of the Cold War dynamic, American politicians particularly discriminated against and began deporting Chinese Americans. This included Qian Xuesen, the scientist who would become the father of China’s ballistic missile program.
When we turn what should be protected free speech into a weapon to persecute academia and deport immigrants, we don’t just violate our founding principles. We lose value and inhibit our capability to innovate and grow as a nation.
LISTEN: VELSHI EXPLAINS THREATS TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH ARE THREATS TO ALL FREEDOMS
WATCH: VELSHI ON THE MODERN MAGA “RED SCARE”
