Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna is one of the more left-wing Democrats in the House, which, as you well know, is really saying something. And when it comes to policy in general, there’s very little common ground for conservatives to find with him.
But there’s one notable exception: free speech.
If you’ll recall, according to “The Twitter Files,” Khanna was apparently the only Democrat who raised the alarm about Twitter’s efforts to censor discussion of the Hunter Biden laptop story:
30. In one humorous exchange on day 1, Democratic congressman Ro Khanna reaches out to Gadde to gently suggest she hop on the phone to talk about the “backlash re speech.” Khanna was the only Democratic official I could find in the files who expressed concern. pic.twitter.com/TSSYOs5vfy
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
Gadde replies quickly, immediately diving into the weeds of Twitter policy, unaware Khanna is more worried about the Bill of Rights: pic.twitter.com/U4FRLYYPaY
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
32.Khanna tries to reroute the conversation to the First Amendment, mention of which is generally hard to find in the files: pic.twitter.com/Tq6l7VMuQL
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 3, 2022
Khanna deserves major props for that. It’s sad that something like that sets him apart from other Democrats. You know, since freedom of speech is supposed to be one of those things that’s cherished by everyone, regardless of political party.
Last night, he was a guest on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront,” where he talked about his commitment to free speech:
We should all be standing up for First Amendment speech. Twitter is effectively a modern public square. pic.twitter.com/A97u4KzFFh
— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) December 6, 2022
Depressingly, but not surprisingly, Khanna is taking heat from other lefties for his position:
Twitter is a private company not a public square.
— Corb (@corb555) December 6, 2022
I hate this argument, when it's a private business and there are other options. Unless you describe every website that gets over a certain amount of users a public square, then I don't agree.
— Manny F (@mannyfimer) December 6, 2022
I’m all for free speech. However, Twitter is a private entity. It’s not a public square.
— justmestac (@justmestac) December 6, 2022
“I’m all for free speech, but …”
Then the government should own it and allow any kind of speech. A corporation is not a person
— Hunter’s laptop #5 (@realworldrj) December 6, 2022
no, not when it's ultimately under the control off one person
— Don Perkins (@thedonperkins) December 6, 2022
Unless that one person is an outspoken liberal activist. In that case, it’s totally fine. (Pro tip: Don’t get your talking points from Elizabeth Warren if you want to be taken seriously.)
Have you READ the First Amendment and realized it doesn’t apply to @Twitter @elonmusk ?🤬
— Jiji❣️look for the truth, you’ll sleep better 🌊 (@JijiS89803623) December 6, 2022
I had to read this twice. You sound like one of them? Twitter is a private company. It can remove whatever content it wants to. It doesn't have to run a story with hacked photos of someone's drug-addled poor choices.
— Kristina (@krisinhawaii) December 6, 2022
One of them? One of whom? One of those people who supports free speech and is against politically driven censorship?
Yeah, we’re honestly pretty OK with Ro Khanna being one of those.
Thank you @RepRoKhanna for standing up for free speech at a time where even the @ACLU has abandoned the principle. https://t.co/XTPtwBetqj
— Rumble Rumble (@shoomoz) December 6, 2022
Such a rare comment from a Democrat: “Liberal Democrats should be standing up for the principles of first amendment speech”.
The fact that this has become rare goes to show that largely Democrats = illiberal.
Great stuff @RoKhanna https://t.co/MdzK53gNDz
— Dhiraj Kacker (@dhirajkacker) December 6, 2022
Thank you. You stand apart.
— DVS (@___DVS___) December 6, 2022
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