12/23/2023 0 Comments Trumps speechThe conversation with Raffensperger was “perfect,” he has said. Trump has been similarly dismissive of any consequences for his post-election statements. It proved to be a remarkably prescient statement, though it overlooked the likely legal consequences of shooting someone in the streets of Manhattan. In 2016, Trump famously bragged about the loyalty of his base, saying, “I could stand in the middle of 5 th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” You have a right to say what you’d like, but there’s no protection for using it to defraud or threaten someone, or to incite a riot. You have a right to use a gun, but there’s no protection for using it to hold up a store. Those liberties give way, though, when we use them to commit a crime. While both guarantees are controversial, they are also undeniably powerful. The Second Amendment promised the right to bear arms. The First Amendment essentially said we could say or write anything at any time without fear of prosecution. In 1791, the first generation of Americans made promises that have largely gone unbroken in the intervening 231 years. The Bill of Rights is an astounding document that has set this nation apart from all others. But given revelations about fake electors and talk of seizing voting machines, how much of Trump’s loose talk was actually strategic? There are times when Trump’s outbursts seem to be improvisational theater, lashing out at handy targets and pressuring others to bend to his will. Bank Teller, I hope to find $100,000 in my satchel when I leave your establishment”? “Find” the votes? As in, “Look around, you may have missed a box” or “Mr. After Trump lost the state in the presidential election, he called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, suggested that the official could be prosecuted for not throwing out the results, and said, “I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.” More potential liability lies in Georgia. Even after he saw the violent outcome on Fox News, he egged on the crowd with a tweet about his vice president lacking the “courage to do what was necessary,” further endangering Mike Pence. We learned in the hearings that Trump was aware his supporters were heavily armed and unwilling to risk going through event security, but he didn’t hesitate to unleash them on Congress. 6 rally to his call to “fight like hell” to his exhortation to march on the Capitol, Trump’s words suggest a planned escalation. From his invitation to followers to join him for a “wild” Jan. What sounded like just hype and hyperbole more than 18 months ago now looks like something altogether different. Supreme Court concluded that a call for violence or mob action can only be punished if it “is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.” In other words, did you try to get people so worked up that they would try to commit violent acts almost immediately? Or maybe you’re feeling really ambitious and declare, “Our only path to real justice is to take up arms and stage a revolution!” That too is permitted under the First Amendment. Want to shout, “Our governor deserves to be dragged out of his office and hanged”? That would be fine with everyone except the governor. The First Amendment gives us extraordinary latitude to say all kinds of inflammatory things, particularly when directed toward public officials. To be clear, that’s not easy to do in a country founded on freedom. 6 attack on the Capitol and disclosures from the investigation into efforts to overturn the Georgia presidential vote suggest that Trump’s words may have crossed the line into criminal conduct. Revelations from the House Committee investigating the Jan. It’s remarkable, then, that none of his off-the-cuff, often improvised speech has ever exposed him to criminal liability – until now. ![]() If Ronald Reagan was the Great Communicator, Trump is the Extraordinary Agitator. ![]() His unvarnished and unpretentious speaking style, along with his distinctive cadence, propelled him all the way to the White House. Former President Donald Trump is a master of free speech.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |