Donald Trump has long had a tense relationship with the media, and his Friday afternoon press conference quickly spiraled into an Orwellian spin cycle. The 79-year-old president took up his administration’s recent crackdown on free speech, saying that it is not only unfair but “really illegal” for media houses to run stories that are disapproving of him.
You’re not the only one who thinks that’s the political equivalent of blaming the weather for rain.
President Donald Trump said that no one who wins a “landslide times two” (or, as he first referred to it, a “landside”) should be facing so much negative press while ranting against what he claims is a 97 percent negative media coverage rate.
The funny thing is that Donald Trump characterized himself as “a very strong person for free speech.” While claiming that adverse reporting needs to have legal consequences, that seems like an odd hill to climb, right?
Trump’s projections have always been a little illogical, if you will. Citing his lawsuit against ABC News, which was settled for $15 million last December, he regretted at the press conference that journalists turn positive stories into negative ones.
He even boasted about personally paying $16 million to ‘George Slopadopolous,’ his Trump-version of George Stephanopoulos. Trump said, “When somebody is given 97 percent of the stories are bad about a person, that’s no longer free speech… that’s just cheating.” According to him, the media serves more as an extension of the Democratic National Committee than as a watchdog!
Of course, however, there is no favorable clause in free speech.
Many critics have been eager to point out that the First Amendment protects harsh coverage just as much as it does glowing puff pieces. The president’s most recent outburst of media disrespect coincides with a troubling week for American free speech.
BREAKING: The Actors Guild and the Writers Guild unleash scathing responses to the MAGA-fueled firing of Jimmy Kimmel and Donald Trump’s blatant war on free speech.
We have entered dark, dark times…
“Suppression of free speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant… pic.twitter.com/PRvdseAZRO
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) September 18, 2025
The administration of President Donald Trump has taken decisive action against supposed critics since conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. Teachers are being looked into, an MSNBC analyst lost his job, and late-night TV suffered a significant setback when Jimmy Kimmel’s show was unexpectedly canceled this month after being on air since 2003.
That final move rocked Hollywood. In a similar FCC-friendly change, Stephen Colbert, whose own show was cancelled, openly supported Kimmel. Protesters gathered outside the El Capitan Theatre, shouting for Jimmy Kimmel Live! to return and carrying signs that doubled as jokes for comedy writers’ room auditions. Interestingly, liberals aren’t the only ones opposing Donald Trump’s media war.
Of course, Barack Obama jumped in with a scathing X post defending free speech “whether the speaker is Charlie Kirk or Jimmy Kimmel.” Even Tucker Carlson reminded his conservative fans that Kirk was “a free speech champion.”
Hell has frozen over. Tucker Carlson is calling out the fascist authoritarian Trump regime for insidiously using the assassination of Charlie Kirk as an excuse to abolish the First Amendment, round up Americans, and carry out the Nazification of America. pic.twitter.com/MnmAVAVU7B
— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) September 17, 2025
Senator Ted Cruz gave perhaps the most severe criticism and called the tactics “dangerous as hell.” Cruz warned liberals would “ruthlessly” take back the same authority when they reclaim power if conservatives normalize Donald Trump’s style of censorship. “In short, despite Trump claiming that negative press is ‘illegal,’ his attempts to silence critics have sparked a rare bipartisan protest.
That is one argument that a man who thrives on dispute probably wishes were “fake news.”
