'The View' Hosts Roast Trump's 'Dumb' Statements About 'Free Speech'

Former President Donald Trump's legal team is arguing for free speech in response to his third indictment. The ladies of The View disagree, saying that it's "made for TV" and "really shaky," and that it won't save him. The third indictment against Trump was handed out on Wednesday, this time for his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6 and his attempts to overthrow the 2020 election. Trump's legal team has responded to the four additional allegations by calling them an assault on free speech and arguing that their client was only expressing his honest belief that he had won.

As per Yahoo, Alyssa Farah Griffin characterized the argument as "really shaky." On the other hand, co-host and former prosecutor Sunny Hostin just said, "It's dumb!" However, Farah Griffin did have a suspicion about why this was Trump's move and went on to say, "I have a bit of a theory here, I think Donald Trump's legal defense is much more of a made-for-TV legal defense than a keep-him-out-of-jail legal defense."

As Farah noted, the three-time indicted ex-president wants this defense to go on as long as possible so he may evade justice before the 2024 election. She added, "I think he's going to try to stretch this in every way legally feasible, beyond the election, and he's banking on winning, gutting the Department of Justice, pardoning himself if he needs to, because this will not hold muster."

This week's announcement of Donald Trump's newest charge by special prosecutor Jack Smith was made in strikingly unambiguous terms. Smith said that Trump's involvement in the incident on January 6 at the United States Capitol was "fueled by lies." As per Guardian, Smith didn't think twice before using the term "heroes" to characterize the Capitol police and other law enforcement professionals who sought to safeguard the seat of American democracy. He added, "They are patriots, and they are the very best of us."

The simple patriotic deed he suggested was for Americans to read the indictment. Those who follow the rules will find similar blunt language there. In addition, if they followed Smith's advice, they would soon learn how to rebut the "free speech" position being used by Trump's political and media supporters. These supporters are arguing that it is impossible to criminalize speech, even if it is untrue, in the United States.

According to Trump's attorney John Lauro's interview with CBS News, "What the government would have to prove in this case, beyond a reasonable doubt, is that speech is not protected by the first amendment, and they’ll never be able to do that." However, on the second page of this 45-page indictment, the prosecution confronts this objection head-on. The document admits, "The Defendant had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won." In addition, it states that the former president might have challenged the results of the election via official channels such as audits, litigation, and recounts.

References:

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/view-mocks-trump-dumb-free-165703550.html

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/03/trump-is-hoping-his-free-speech-defense-will-work-it-wont