Silence of the Lambs

With a few notable exceptions, Republicans on the Hill are avoiding talking about Trump’s demands to shut down broadcast networks, cancel comedians, imprison protesters, investigate Democratic nonprofits, sue newspapers, and prosecute speech. “We don’t love it,” one senior aide said. But mostly they’re just waiting to see if things get worse.

It’s become clear that Trump was never interested in ending cancel culture, per se, but rather in inflicting cancellations of his own. Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Leigh Ann Caldwell

September 21, 2025

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Throughout 2024, as he pitched a weary American electorate on his return to power, Donald Trump promised repeatedly to put an end to the censoriousness of the Biden era. “We’re going to restore free speech, and we will really, truly restore it,” he said in Michigan, a few months before the election. It was a message that resonated with millions of people who might not otherwise have voted Republican, from MAHA moms to the Manosphere. I heard the complaints constantly on the campaign trail, from Uber drivers, parents, Walmart shoppers, country club types: Political correctness was out of control.