QUESTION ASKED: Does Pam Bondi know what free speech is?
Katie Miller, hosting Bondi on the Katie Miller Pod, said that Kirk’s murder last week was what happened when college campuses don’t take action against or expel students who harass conservative speakers. Using anti-Semitism as an example of left-wing campus “hate speech,” Bondi claimed in reply: “There’s free speech, and then there’s hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society.”
Does the Attorney General know that “hate speech” is protected under the Constitution? She continued: “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech, and that’s across the aisle.”
If this all gives you flashbacks to the days of social-justice warrior campus protests (“keep your hate speech off this campus!”) you’re not alone. Bondi didn’t elaborate on exactly what she meant by “targeting anyone with hate speech.” Did she mean people gloating over Kirk’s death, saying he deserved to die for his beliefs? That’s certainly hateful and disgusting, but is it illegal? Not in America.
Bondi’s fudge, whether it was purely idiotic or a more sinister attempt to roll back speech rights, expresses an outlook totally at odds with Kirk’s: he didn’t believe in hate speech. The idea that words can be dangerous is antithetical to his belief in dialogue and open debate.
As Christopher Rufo notes:
This is extremely concerning. The distinction is not between "free speech" and "hate speech," but between "free speech" and "organizing illicit activities, engaging in political violence, depriving others of their civil rights, and committing tax or nonprofit fraud." https://t.co/inFNF3prAa
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) September 16, 2025
Still though, consider what the near-universal condemnation of Bondi implies:
So, just to check, given the encouragingly universal reaction to Bondi I’m seeing this morning: We’re all agreed, going forward, that there’s no such thing as hate speech, and that Jack Phillips can choose which cakes to bake, right? This is settled now?
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 16, 2025