A GOP Senator Now Makes Unexpected Remark on Free Speech • Franknez.com

It’s a head-scratcher for anyone who’s followed her career: Wyoming Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, once a fierce defender of unrestricted First Amendment rights, is now singing a different tune.

In the shadow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the uproar over Jimmy Kimmel’s show suspension, Lummis has declared that free speech might need some serious guardrails—prompting eye-rolls from free speech advocates and fresh ammunition for Democrats hammering the GOP’s selective outrage.

Lummis, a vocal Bitcoin enthusiast and co-sponsor of the Free Speech Protection Act back in 2023, laid it out plain in an interview with Semafor this week.

She used to believe “The First Amendment should always be sort of the ultimate right. And that there should be almost no checks and balances on it.”

But no more.

Lummis Switches Stance on Free Speech

“We just can’t let people call each other those kinds of insane things and then be surprised when politicians get shot and the death threats they are receiving and then trying to get extra money for security,” she said, linking the heated rhetoric to the sniper killing of Kirk on September 10 during his rally in Orem, Utah.

This reversal hits especially hard coming from Lummis, who just two years ago teamed up with Sen. Rand Paul to introduce the Free Speech Protection Act.

The bill aimed to block the government from strong-arming social media giants into yanking posts they didn’t like— a direct shot at what she called the Biden administration’s “efforts to police free speech in Wyoming.”

At the time, she warned, “If we let the Biden administration restrict our freedom of speech, there is no telling what other sacred freedoms they will come for next.”

The measure, meant to shield online expression from federal meddling, hasn’t passed yet, but Lummis’s pivot has critics wondering if her principles were ever that ironclad.

Her comments come amid a broader chill on the right, where former free speech die-hards seem to be rethinking their absolutism in the wake of ABC’s decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from affiliates.

That move followed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s threats of regulatory payback after Kimmel’s monologue lampooned MAGA attempts to spin Kirk’s death—carried out by 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, charged with murder—as anything but a far-right tragedy.

Kimmel quipped about the “MAGA Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” and joked that Trump was in the “fourth stage of grief: construction,” nodding to the president’s planned $200 million White House ballroom upgrade.

Also Read: Poll: Republicans Now Believe Country is Headed in Wrong Direction

The Trump Administration Threatens American’s Freedom of Free Speech

The fallout has exposed some awkward inconsistencies in conservative circles, drawing bipartisan attention and scrutiny.

Take Stephen Miller, Trump’s former White House deputy chief of staff and a self-styled free speech warrior.

In 2022, he tweeted, “If the idea of free speech enrages you—the cornerstone of democratic self-government—than I regret to inform you that you are a fascist.”

Fast-forward to this Tuesday, and he’s all in on curbing it: “take all necessary and rational steps to save Western Civilization” trumps “mimic[king] the ACLU of the 90s.”

Elon Musk, the billionaire who bills himself as a free speech absolutist, chimed in with a quick agreement.

Trump himself has leaned into the moment, telling reporters on Thursday that the “97 percent of networks” critical of him “should have their license taken away.”

Vice President JD Vance urged Republicans to call the bosses of anyone spotted celebrating Kirk’s death online, while Attorney General Pam Bondi declared the era of the “radical left” “cheering violence” is “over.

Lummis’s backflip, in particular, has become a punchline in left-leaning circles, with one Democratic strategist telling The Daily Beast it shows the GOP’s free speech fervor was always more about owning the libs than defending principles.

Even some Republicans are staying mum or pushing back quietly.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a longtime First Amendment hawk, hasn’t weighed in directly on Lummis’s comments, but his silence speaks volumes in a party that’s spent years railing against “cancel culture.”

As the dust settles from Kirk’s death—the latest in a grim string of political violence, including the June assassination of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman—Lummis’s words feel like a symptom of deeper fatigue.

In a polarized America, where online vitriol often spills into real-world tragedy, the senator’s call for “checks and balances” on speech might resonate with folks tired of the toxicity.

But for those who remember her as a “sacred freedom” crusader, it’s a bitter reminder that principles can bend when the stakes hit home.

Also Read: GOP Members Now Believe Trump Is Named First In The Epstein Files

For customer support or to report typos and corrections please get in contact via media@franknez.com.