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Shaun McCutcheon is a political activist and free speech champion. He won the U.S. Supreme Court case McCutcheon v. FEC. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
Donald Trump or Kamala Harris? The answer to the question of 2024 couldn’t be more straightforward to me: Trump.
Even without the failures of the Biden-Harris administration, there are plenty of reasons to support a second Trump term. As one of the most successful businessmen in American history, Trump would be a free-market president again by backing job creators large and small with tax cuts, reduced regulations, increased energy production and other pro-business policies that create real economic growth.
Next is mass illegal immigration, which a Trump administration says it would address on day one with increased law enforcement and a reaffirmation of reasonable legal immigration that makes our country an actual country. And again, on foreign policy, Trump has a proven track record of peace through strength — without endless wars.
Trump has many proven answers, from economic growth via lower energy costs to reduced inflation and border security. That’s why many American voters support Trump on these issues, despite unrelenting Washington establishment attacks. Voters especially like Trump’s ability to handle the large and complex U.S. economy. After years of increasing prices, many voters in battleground states are ready for another Trump presidency.
There is another reason to support Trump, and it is no less critical. For decades and with heightened intensity in recent months, the former president has been a champion of free speech, defending the rights of Americans — left, right and center — to speak their minds regardless of what they believe. Trump is by far, I believe, the best candidate for the First Amendment, fighting back against leftist attempts to censor him (see his infamous ban from Facebook) and appearing on countless podcasts to make the case for our right to free expression. Explicitly and implicitly, Trump’s embrace of free speech by appearing on alternative platforms proves his passion for the First Amendment.
Further proof is Trump’s recent rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he triumphantly returned after the first attempt on his life. Trump returned to Butler with Elon Musk by his side, with the owner of X claiming 2024 is a “must-win” election for the supporters of free speech. This speaks volumes coming from the head of X (formerly Twitter), which was once a breeding ground for censorship before Musk’s leadership. For years, Twitter had been accused of suppressing conservative and libertarian voices that happened to disagree with Democrats — before Musk restored the platform as a haven for free speech.
I think any candidate with Musk’s support deserves to win. Any candidate who has fought establishment politicians and their allies for years, tooth and nail, to make America great again deserves to win.
Trump is perhaps the most criticized and vilified candidate in U.S. history, and yet he continues to make the rounds and make his voice heard for Americans who are sick and tired of left-wing politics. Despite an attempt on his life, Trump is a living testament to the power of the First Amendment, and I believe it would be in safe hands in another Trump administration.
If you don’t believe me, listen to Musk or Amber Rose or Tulsi Gabbard or the countless other former Democrats who have decided to give up on radical leftism and support a true Republican leader in 2024. To quote Gabbard at a recent pro-Trump event, “The choice is between freedom and tyranny.”
Don’t believe me? Then listen to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who recently acknowledged that the Biden-Harris administration pressured the company to censor COVID-related content in 2021 — censorship in favor of government information. Democrats even targeted “humor and satire” that didn’t toe the government line, and Zuckerberg is hardly a MAGA Republican.
The answer to the 2024 question is simple: You either support free speech, or you don’t. And, if you believe in the First Amendment, only one presidential candidate deserves your vote: Donald J. Trump.
Election notice: The BDN will stop accepting letters and columns related to the Nov. 5 election on Wednesday, Oct. 30. Not all submissions can be published.
