Donald Trump in the Oval Office during his second presidency
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty)

‘They shouldn’t have a right to broadcast’: Trump allegedly wants to revoke MSNBC’s freedom of speech and expression in unhinged post

Donald Trump’s attacks on the media continue as he expresses his desire to revoke MSNBC‘s freedom of speech in a social media rant.

Recommended Videos

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump began levying frivolous lawsuits at the media anytime outlets said or did things he disliked. He notably sued ABC and George Stephanopoulos for defamation because Stephanopoulos stated that Trump was convicted of rape. Trump sued based on the technicality that he was found liable for sexual abuse, not rape, even though a judge later clarified that the jury did, indeed, find him guilty of rape. ABC apologized to Trump and paid a hefty settlement to him, even though the move set a precedent for outlets to self-censor to avoid legal action from Trump, even if their statements were substantially true. In an even more frivolous suit, Trump tried to sue 60 Minutes because he didn’t like how it edited its interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump’s attacks on the media raised concerns that he was setting the stage to intimidate journalists and enforce censorship during his presidency. Since he entered office, social media users on TikTok have noticed that content that paints Trump or Elon Musk in a negative light is being censored and removed from search results. On top of that, the president is considering shutting down MSNBC.

Donald Trump wants MSNBC to stop broadcasting

Trump recently took to Truth Social to complain about MSNBC. He shared a link to an article about CNN laying off numerous employees due to “Trump-Era Restructuring.” For some reason, Trump dragged MSNBC into the conversation, writing, “MSDNC [sic] is even worse than CNN. They shouldn’t even have a right to broadcast — Only in America!” He seemingly purposefully misspelled MSNBC as “MSDNC” to compare it to the Democratic National Convention (DNC). Trump was insinuating that the media outlet leans left and, therefore, shouldn’t be allowed to broadcast.

It’s deeply concerning that the President of the United States is considering shutting down one of the country’s most extensive and long-lived news publishers for no other reason than politics. MSNBC has occasionally touted progressive hosts and faced accusations of left-leaning bias. At the same time, its slightly perceptible left-leaning tilt isn’t even as pronounced as Fox News right-leaning ways. MSNBC hosts have opinions, but unlike many right-wing news outlets, they don’t try to warp reality or actively mislead viewers. There’s no valid reason to want to stop MSNBC from broadcasting when its reporting and opinions are protected by free speech.

On X, Republicans for Trump translated Trump’s social media rant as “I want to shut down MSNBC—they criticize me too much. It’s absurd that, in America, people are allowed to have free speech.”

Trump’s desire to shut down MSNBC is particularly ironic, considering he claims to be an avid supporter of free speech. Within his first days of office, he signed an Executive Order to combat the government’s attempts to prevent the spread of misinformation because he sees it as an infringement on free speech. However, even as he signed these orders, he attacked the media, and at least one person lost their job for criticizing his right-hand man, Musk. It demonstrates that Trump is only in support of a very narrow kind of freedom of speech that extends solely to him and those who show 100% support for him. Everyone else, whether individual journalists or entire news publishers, is out of luck when it comes to Trump’s version of “free speech.”


The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy