Jonathan Turley: Kamala Harris Would be a 'Perfect Nightmare for Free Speech’

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On Wednesday, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said that if Kamala Harris and Tim Walz win the White House in November, they could seriously threaten free speech in America.

Turley made his remarks during an interview with Fox News' 'Fox & Friends.'

Vice President Harris has said her rival, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, should have his First Amendment rights - what she calls "privileges" revoked.

Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, has said that Americans don't have a "guarantee to free speech."

Brazil has banned X (formerly Twitter) and Turley is warning that the same kind of government attacks on free speech would come under a Harris-Walz administration.

“It’s really Brazil that I think many in the anti-free speech movement are watching carefully," Turley told Fox News. "If Brazil can succeed in banning Twitter from the entire country, it will be replicated."

He continued, "Because many hold the view from what you just heard from Vice President Harris. They view speech as a privilege. It’s like a driver’s license that they think that can be rescinded if you’re reckless."

"And this is the ultimate destination for this movement where if they can’t convince people to give up their own freedoms to embrace censorship, they’re going to start to take sites offline to prevent people from hearing opposing views," Turley added.

On Friday, a judge in Brazil ruled that internet providers must block citizens’ access to X after its owner Elon Musk refused to suspend certain accounts that country's government didn't like.

Turley worries a President Harris will follow a similar path despite the First Amendment.

“We need more protection through Congress," he warned. "And this should be the issue of this election. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in the only presidential election where free speech was the central issue.”

He said the 2024 election will be a referendum on free speech.

“Free speech is on the ballot. Not democracy. Free speech is on the ballot. Because, quite frankly, a Harris-Walz administration would be a perfect nightmare for free speech," Turley insisted.

Walz told MSNBC in 2022 that there’s “no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech.”

Jonathan Turley's worries are valid.

And we should believe people when they tell us who they are.