First Amendment

Trump's Responses to Kimmel and Comey Highlight His Contempt for Freedom of Speech

The president is not shy about using government power to punish people for saying things that offend him.

Jacob Sullum | 5.6.2026 12:01 AM

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Last week, President Donald Trump said late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel "should be immediately fired" for making a "really shocking" joke about him. The next day, the Justice Department charged another prominent Trump critic, former FBI Director James Comey, with committing two federal felonies by posting a photograph of seashells arranged in the sand to form the message "86 47"—a ubiquitous statement of opposition to the current president.

Those back-to-back expressions of presidential wrath underlined a striking difference between Trump and most of his predecessors. Although presidents have never enjoyed criticism, Trump is unusual in routinely and openly using the influence and power of his office to retaliate against people who say things that offend him—a habit that blatantly contradicts his avowed commitment to freedom of speech.

Trump argued that both Kimmel and Comey had threatened his life by........

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