Kimberly Wehle in The Hill, April 3, 2024, argues that ex-president Donald Trump’s claim that his “political speech” is protected by the First Amendment fails under scrutiny. Free speech has its limits particularly when used in criminal behavior, When Trump stated that the 2020 election was stolen and entered into a conspiracy to overturn the election, he could no longer hide behind the First Amendment.
American Civil Liberties Union lawyers write that they have defended Trump’s free speech rights as in the case where he was sued for suggesting his followers beat up a protester. They say that Trump is fully within his rights to make false claims about the legitimacy of the election, but in his efforts to get state election officials to invalidate election results, speech became action that is not protected. (The Los Angeles Times, August 12, 2013, by David Cole and Ben Wizner)
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