GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance told NewsNation that America’s number one threat is the relentless attacks on freedom of speech.
Vance mourned how divided Americans have become and said that those divisions are in part fueled by violations of Americans’ First Amendment rights during a NewsNation town hall Thursday. “To me, the biggest threat to democracy is the rising tide of censorship,” Vance stated during the town hall.
The Vice presidential nominee added that “The idea that we should be trying to silence our fellow Americans rather than persuade them and talk to them, that’s always going to lead to people being pissed off because they don’t like to be told what to think or what to say. They like to talk to one another.”
NEW: JD Vance tells Americans they are making a “terrible mistake” if they end lifelong friendships because of the election.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 25, 2024
A good reminder.
Vance opened up about some of his personal friends who don’t agree with his politics.
“If you're discarding a lifelong friendship… pic.twitter.com/vTdcoikt51
Vance also encouraged Americans not to allow political differences expressed through freedom of speech to divide them from friends and neighbors. “Don't cast aside family members and lifelong friendships. Politics is not worth it. And I think we follow that principle. We'll heal the divide in this country,” he said.
The Vice Presidential nominee also recently noted the impact that censorship can have on the democratic process when talking to New York Times journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro on The Interview podcast. During the interview, Vance referenced MRC’s 2020 poll showing that 9.4 percent of Joe Biden voters would not have voted for him had they known about the Hunter Biden Laptop scandal censored by Big Tech and legacy media. “Is it okay that big technology companies censored the Hunter Biden laptop story which independent analysis said cost Donald Trump millions of voters?” Vance asked Garcia-Navarro.
Vance’s continued emphasis on the idea that censorship is a “threat to democracy,” seems to align with the growing sentiment free speech is on the ballot. A poll conducted by Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression/NORC recently found that 63 percent of Americans consider free speech “very important” to their decision of who to vote for in 2024. Free Speech was second only to the issue of inflation, which 68 percent of those surveyed said was “very important” to the way they will vote this year.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on “hate speech” and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
