this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2025
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United States | News & Politics
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Isn't this specifically against the first amendment? I thought government including the president could not punish people for what they say.
No.
The first amendment isn't unlimited, unfettered speech. See hate speech and yeah, libel and slander are very much within the bounds of the first amendment and the bar for this usage against Journalists, the bar is very high.
It's just that being a Republican snowflake in a normal world, normal timeline would not even come close to making it to court.
Not lawyer. But pretty sure the hate speech exception , if there is one, is only if it incites a crime.
Perfectly legal to spout off all the ignorant bullshit you want as long as you don’t incite people to do crimes.
But you are right. The bar for a person like the president who is a public figure, winning a libel or slander case is typically pretty high, especially against the press.
But in this timeline I don’t know.
Also not a lawyer, but inciting a crime isn't enough. It has to be a direct incitement of a specific crime. It's free speech to say that people should take up arms against this administration. (Don't be surprised if you end up on some lists though.) Providing a time and place where someone will be and suggesting a plan of action to conduct an assassination almost certainly would be out of bounds.
Unfortunately, winning the suit isn't really the goal. Several suits that would not have been won by Trump have been settled for crazy sums, just because institutions are afraid of Trump's willingness to abuse federal power to go after his personal enemies. They don't want to escalate further because all that really matters to them is the bottom line.
Yes you are exactly right. On all counts.