US Democrats say they will introduce bill to protect free speech, after Kimmel show suspended

Senator Chris Murphy cited the example of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show, saying President Donald Trump and officials are trying to crush political opposition. Photo / Getty Images

United States Democratic lawmakers said today they plan to introduce legislation to protect free speech, arguing that President Donald Trump is seeking to censor opponents, especially since the murder of Charlie Kirk.

The death of Kirk - a right-wing activist who was shot dead during a public event in Utah last week - was “a national tragedy” that “should have been an opportunity for President Trump to bring this country together”, Senator Chris Murphy told a news conference in Washington.

“But Trump and his lieutenants are choosing to exploit this tragedy to destroy Donald Trump’s political opposition,” Murphy said, citing the example of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show.

Kimmel’s show was indefinitely suspended by ABC after he accused Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement of seeking to exploit Kirk’s death for political points.

“That’s censorship. That’s state speech control. That’s not America,” said Murphy.

The planned legislation “creates a specific defence for those that are being targeted for political reasons” and “builds real consequences for government officials when they use the power of the government to target speech that is protected by the First Amendment”.

Senator Alex Padilla listed various recent developments as causes for concern.

“An attorney-general who is vowing to prosecute Americans for what she alone deems hate speech. A president who threatens a reporter with prosecution for asking a question about that,” Padilla said.

“And Donald Trump personally suing the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal for publishing stories that he doesn’t like,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that “one of the great hallmarks of our country is free speech”, accusing Trump’s Administration of “trying to snuff it out”.

“They don’t want people to even speak when they don’t like what they say,” Schumer said, warning: “That is the road to autocracy.”

-Agence France-Presse