Forget the contentious House Judiciary Committee meeting this week about threats to free speech: U.S. Rep Jim Jordan is deliberately ignoring the most significant threat to American speech freedoms.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how the hosts on Today in Ohio<\/a> see it, anyway.<\/p>\n During the committee meeting, Jordan accused European Union regulators of attempting to influence U.S. elections through content moderation rules that affect social media platforms <\/a>like X (formerly Twitter). Jordan claimed that when \u201cplatforms are forced to change their service terms to comply with European laws, it affects what Americans say online and infringes on Americans\u2019 First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n But podcast host Chris Quinn shifted the focus to what he views as the real danger to free expression in America.<\/p>\n \u201cThe clear threat to free speech in this country is the president,\u201d Quinn said, referring to Donald Trump. \u201cHe has sued networks, that have kowtowed to him when they shouldn\u2019t have and given millions of dollars. He is cowing newsrooms from criticizing him.\u201d<\/p>\n The podcast detailed how the committee meeting devolved into partisan disagreement, with Ranking Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland pointing out that Jordan \u201cignores ongoing oppression in Russia, China, Pakistan, while vilifying European liberal democracies.\u201d<\/p>\n Quinn escalated his criticism of Trump\u2019s impact on American discourse, stating: \u201cDonald Trump is the biggest threat we\u2019ve had to free speech in this country probably in the entire history of the country. And for Jim Jordan to sit there and say, \u2018Look at Great Britain, \u2018 it\u2019s cartoonish, buffoonish and dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n Host Lisa Garvin marveled at Jordan\u2019s ominous claim that \u201ctoday\u2019s misinformation is tomorrow\u2019s truth. She called it \u201cAlternative Facts 2.0.\u201d <\/p>\n Quinn argued that when lies are accepted as truth, meaningful public discourse becomes impossible because \u201cwe can\u2019t have a basic conversation with each other because we\u2019re not operating from a set of facts.\u201d He cited Trump\u2019s repeated falsehoods as a fundamental threat to the foundation of free speech itself.<\/p>\n The \u201cToday in Ohio\u201d discussion highlighted how Jordan\u2019s focus on European regulations appears to be a distraction from more immediate domestic threats to press freedom. Quinn noted several specific actions that he believes demonstrate the true danger: Trump\u2019s lawsuits against news organizations, shuttering Voice of America, the withdrawal of funding from public media like NPR, and attempts to rewrite history at institutions like the Smithsonian.<\/p>\n \u201cDonald Trump is trying to kill truth,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cHe is trying to become an authoritarian leader by being the source of information, no matter how inaccurate it is. And no president in history has lied as much as this guy has.\u201d<\/p>\n The podcast exchange underscores a broader national debate about the nature of threats to free speech and the role of government in either protecting or undermining the press. While Jordan focuses on foreign influences, the \u201cToday in Ohio\u201d hosts argue that Americans should be far more concerned about threats emerging from within our own political system \u2013 particularly from leaders who use their power to intimidate media outlets and distort factual information.<\/p>\n Listen to the episode here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Listen to full \u201cToday in Ohio\u201d episodes<\/a> where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forget the contentious House Judiciary Committee meeting this week about threats to free speech: U.S. Rep Jim Jordan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-398290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115148213687099646","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}