US Politics Extra: Must-Watch Interaction - Crockett-Jordan-Raskin on Free Speech & Rank Hypocrisy
Table of Contents 📖
"Fact-checking is the First Amendment."
Hello Team
🎦 00:00-00:52⏩
Jonathan introduces the topic of the video - a US Politics Extra. This is a "Must Watch" interaction between Jasmine Crockett, Jim Jordan and Jamie Raskin. Jonathan describes this as a "microcosm" of what's going on in the US political landscape regarding disinformation, freedom of speech and hypocrisy.
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Jasmine Crockett criticises hypocrisy regarding freedom of speech
🎦 00:52-03:26⏩
Jonathan introduces Jasmine Crockett, a Texas lawmaker and former lawyer, whom he describes as "fabulous" and "on point". He plays a clip of Crockett speaking about those who shout about freedom of speech but are the first to quash it when it suits them. Crockett states that despite taking an oath to uphold the constitution, some become "wobbly" when required to actually do so and are kicking out members of the press who criticise the sitting President. The Washington Post, Huffington Post and the Associated Press have all been kicked out and the Washington Post has been told it is no longer able to publish Op-Eds that are critical of the sitting President.
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Jeff Bezos (Amazon) to align Washington Post with Trump Administration
🎦 03:26-05:10⏩
Jonathan reports that Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post has stated that he will shape the opinion pages in a way that supports the Trump administration, embracing "personal liberties and free markets", aligning the paper with the Trump administration. Jonathan highlights that Bezos paid $40 million for the rights to a Melania Trump documentary - a payment Jonathan believes was a way of giving money to Trump and getting on his side. He believes that Bezos has now moved to prevent the Washington Post from endorsing a candidate before the election and now, with the Op-Ed scenario, is aligning with the Trump administration.
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Jasmine Crockett - Social Media was right to fact check Trump
🎦 05:10-09:28⏩
Jonathan moves back to the clip of Jasmine Crockett where she is arguing that social media was right to fact check Trump as people believed the lies about the 2020 election result. Crockett argues that COVID-19 was not a hoax and blames those in power for peddling lies about the election and COVID-19 which resulted in deaths. She states that social media had an ethical right to fact-check given that lives were at stake and that people who don't understand science were pushing conspiracy theories. Crockett highlights that Trump and Pence refused to participate in anything that involved fact-checking, believing elected officials should be able to tell the truth. She goes on to blame conspiracy theories coming out of the Doge (meaning unclear) for the reason farmers are losing their farms. She finishes by asking if everyone agrees that it was Russia that invaded Ukraine, imploring her colleagues to acknowledge this fact. Jonathan commends Crockett for "having enough".
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Republicans refusing to acknowledge the reality of the war in Ukraine
🎦 09:28-09:43⏩
Jonathan highlights that several prominent Republicans, including the nominee for Deputy Defence Secretary, refused to answer Tammy Duckworth's question, "Did Russia invade Ukraine?", and that Peg Sepp has also refused to answer this question. Jonathan states that Republicans are either compromised or complicit in denying reality or being upfront about the situation in Ukraine.
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Jonathan's take on Free Speech
🎦 09:43-13:18⏩
Jonathan describes "free speech" as a complex issue and a fundamentally flawed concept because it is "impractical" stating that no-one is truly a free speech absolutist. He illustrates this by saying that you wouldn't let a 12-year old child shout racial slurs in class or allow pornography on TV at 2pm. He argues that regulation exists to ensure a functioning society and that most people agree with censorship in some form.
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Jasmine Crockett highlights dangers of disinformation, cites COVID-19
🎦 13:18-13:57⏩
Jonathan summarises Jasmine Crockett's position as; Republicans are all for free speech but are now self-censoring by denying the reality that Russia invaded Ukraine. He goes on to say that Crockett believes that disinformation about COVID-19 is now manifesting in dangerous health denialism and vaccine scepticism.
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Jim Jordan's response: Government should not regulate speech
🎦 13:57-14:13⏩
Jonathan states that Jim Jordan's answer is that it's not the Government's job to regulate speech and that we should fact check by fact checking each other. Jonathan acknowledges that this may seem like a reasonable position.
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Jamie Raskin's interjection - missed opportunity?
🎦 14:13-14:51⏩
Jamie Raskin is briefly mentioned but Jonathan doesn't elaborate on his point.
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Jim Jordan - "Fact checking is the First Amendment"
🎦 14:51-16:37⏩
Jim Jordan states that the First Amendment is the ultimate fact check, not "some expert" who decides what should be taken down. He states that debate is the way to fact check, highlighting that this is what happens in Congress every day. Jonathan points out the hypocrisy of Jordan's argument given that Trump, who Jordan supports, restricts the First Amendment by preventing those critical of him from reporting freely by removing critical mainstream media and replacing them with those who are supportive (Newsmax, OEM, Brietbart, Daily Caller).
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Jeff Bezos' hypocrisy on free speech
🎦 16:37-16:57⏩
Jonathan highlights the hypocrisy of Jeff Bezos position regarding the Washington Post and free speech; Bezos states that the Washington Post stands for "personal liberties" but that writers can only say what he wants them to say!
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Wrap up
🎦 16:57-16:57⏩
There is no wrap up for this video.
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