Anyone reading this far is well aware that Vice President-elect Mike Pence was not only booed for the simple act of attending a performance of “Hamilton” on Broadway Friday night; cast member Brandon Dixon engaged Pence in “conversation,” which looked at lot like singling out an audience member and lecturing him from the stage.
Many media outlets are reporting that President-elect Donald Trump had demanded an apology, though “demanding” seems a strong word without an “or else” to back it up. In the space of eight hours or so, nearly 100,000 people have liked Trump’s tweet.
The Theater must always be a safe and special place.The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
It took long enough, but the American Civil Liberties Union at last entered the fray. Someone should have told the ACLU, though, that no one is calling freedom of speech into question; Trump simply pointed out that the cast was rude to Pence.
Americans don't need to apologize-not even to presidents or vice presidents-for the lawful & proper exercise of their constitutional rights. https://t.co/daN147yjkM
— ACLU (@ACLU) November 19, 2016
Democratic & Republican presidents have understood freedom of speech makes our country stronger, even if it makes our leaders uncomfortable.
— ACLU (@ACLU) November 19, 2016
Is this going somewhere? Because there’s absolutely nothing new here.
OK, here we go …
An apology should instead come from President-elect Trump for calling into question appropriateness of @HamiltonMusical cast's statements.
— ACLU (@ACLU) November 19, 2016
So, not only is the ACLU applying its vast legal expertise to the question of who should apologize; as is typical for the nonpartisan organization, it’s getting it wrong. Americans don’t need to apologize for the lawful and proper exercise of their constitutional rights — and yet Trump should apologize for calling the cast of “Hamilton” rude? News flash: they were rude.
https://twitter.com/DesertFoxMulder/status/800068521019502592
.@ACLU @HamiltonMusical Cast was out of line, as are you.
— Jerry H ✝️?? (@jhendo1) November 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/RyanCMayer/status/800072231116115968
https://twitter.com/KirkpattieCake/status/800082039743492097
https://twitter.com/ManOfTheNord/status/800083258251870208
You seem to have forgotten how free speech works.
— Grant Bosse (@grantbosse) November 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/Childerbread/status/800082388713959425
Trump also has freedom of speech, biased hacks. He didn’t threaten to silence/jail anyone. Gave an opinion.
— Mike Viper Metcalf (@viper_metcalf) November 19, 2016
He can speak. They can speak. No one needs to apologize. Freedom of speech works both ways. https://t.co/XvWLfMZOMu
— Evan Bernick (@evanbernick) November 19, 2016
President-elect Trump doesn't need to apologize for the lawful and proper exercise of constitutional rights @ACLU https://t.co/UftPQ5HZQz
— Simon Templar (@SimonTemplarPV) November 19, 2016
An apology should instead come from @ACLU for calling into question the appropriateness of Trump's statement https://t.co/UftPQ5HZQz
— Simon Templar (@SimonTemplarPV) November 19, 2016
We can do this all day, @ACLU. #Dumbasses #Hamilton https://t.co/ijhScXE9CO
— Simon Templar (@SimonTemplarPV) November 19, 2016
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