Professor Watchlist, Karen Attiah, & The GOP War On Free Speech
From Professor Watchlists To Firing Karen Attiah: The GOP’s War On Free Speech
Free speech, we are told, is the bedrock of democracy. It is the oxygen that fills the room, the right that supposedly protects us all. It’s all a lie. Every day, I watch the people who scream the loudest about this right twist it into a weapon, often wielding it to defend themselves while denying it to anyone who dares to hold a mirror up to their hypocrisy. The Republican Party has perfected this contradiction. They declare themselves martyrs for free expression, but their actions reveal something far less noble: they only believe in free speech when it reinforces their own power.
I know this firsthand.
In 2018, I was doxxed by Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA. My name was plastered on their “Professor Watchlist,” a blacklist that exists for one purpose only: to intimidate academics who dare to hold and communicate progressive views. Kirk and his allies branded me dangerous simply for teaching my students about race, gender, and sexuality—and taking these beliefs to social media—in ways that made them uncomfortable.
Their so-called free speech absolutism stopped the moment I used my voice in ways they couldn’t control. The threats I received after that weren’t abstract—they were real, terrifying, and sanctioned by a conservative machine that claims to hate censorship but has no problem silencing people like me. And I’m not alone.
Now, in 2025, we are watching that hypocrisy metastasize in public view. When conservative commentators or politicians are criticized, suddenly it is “cancel culture” and a grave threat to democracy. But when progressive journalists, comedians, or professors speak truths about race, gender, or white supremacy, it becomes cause for firing, suspension, or regulatory intimidation. The hypocrisy is loud; it is clear, and it is dangerous. And that’s not just cancel culture, it’s authoritarianism.
Consider what just happened to Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert. These men are not fringe voices; they are mainstream late-night hosts who have built careers on political satire. They joke, they call out hypocrisy, they make powerful people uncomfortable. Yet even they have become targets.
Kimmel faced coordinated outrage after remarks about Charlie Kirk’s death, with FCC Chair Brendan Carr reportedly warning ABC they could “do this the easy way or the hard way.” That’s not civility—it’s censorship dressed up as regulation. Colbert’s critiques of conservatives drew similar political attacks. Different circumstances, same goal: intimidate networks into silence.
And if this is how white, wealthy, straight men with massive platforms are treated, imagine the risks for Black women, queer people, and others without that protection. People like Karen Attiah.
Attiah was the last full-time Black opinion writer at The Washington Post until, just days ago, she was abruptly fired. Her crime? Posting on social media to condemn America’s acceptance of political violence instead of the hollow “thoughts and prayers.”
Her only direct reference to Kirk was his own words. For that, her employer declared her guilty of “gross misconduct” and “unacceptable” behavior. Gross misconduct? For quoting Charlie Kirk? For pointing out the obvious hypocrisy of conservatives who deride Black women in public life while demanding compassion when one of their own is killed? For empathizing with the political assassinations of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman, her husband, and her dog.
Attiah was instead dismissed without conversation and stripped of her platform for the sin of saying aloud what others only whispered. That’s not about workplace policy. That’s about silencing a Black woman whose truth made people in power uncomfortable. And it is not a coincidence.
The right insists that no one should be punished for their speech. They say this with a straight face while backing projects like the Professor Watchlist, while demanding networks muzzle comedians, while cheering when progressive journalists are ousted. They weaponize the First Amendment as a shield when it protects them, and a sword when it comes to us. What they want is not freedom but control: control of language, control of narratives, control of who gets to speak in public and who must stay silent.
This is why the current wave of silencing feels both like a business decision and a political threat. For networks like ABC, suspending Jimmy Kimmel is about appeasing advertisers, regulators, and conservative pressure. For The Washington Post, firing Karen Attiah is about protecting relationships with powerful stakeholders—including Jeff Bezos, whose business empire thrives on not upsetting conservative regulators or consumers.
But behind those corporate decisions is a larger story about power. Because when the FCC Chair threatens a network, when a billionaire-owned paper sidelines its only Black woman opinion columnist, when comedians are punished for doing their job, the message is the same: speech is only free if it doesn’t disturb the people already in charge.
Let’s be clear: none of these cases involves calls to violence. None of them involves harassment. None of them falls outside the bounds of protected First Amendment expression. What they share is something else entirely: they made conservatives, who are all afraid of President Trump, uncomfortable.
And in today’s political climate, that discomfort has become grounds for punishment. The hypocrisy is staggering. For years, Republicans defended the ugliest, most violent rhetoric under the guise of free speech. They joked about Paul Pelosi’s attack. That racial slurs on campus were just speech. That Trump calling for a Muslim ban was just speech. They shrugged off literal calls to insurrection as protected expression.
But when progressives name white supremacy, when Black women point out racism and misogyny, when comedians mock conservative hypocrisy, suddenly the First Amendment no longer applies.
The chilling effect is real. Journalists second-guess whether to write certain columns. Professors wonder if a classroom discussion will land them on another watchlist. Comedians calculate whether a joke is worth their job. And in the meantime, conservatives continue to weaponize “free speech” as both shield and sword—screaming about their rights while dismantling everyone else’s. And that’s the goal. To cause us to think twice. To pause. To choose silence.
If free speech means anything, it must protect the voices that challenge power, not just the ones that flatter it. It must protect the comedians, the professors, the journalists, the activists who risk discomfort to speak the truth. It must protect Black women like Karen Attiah, who refuse to be silent even when the cost is high. It must protect queer Black men like me, who learned the hard way that speaking up comes with real danger. Because if free speech only applies to those who already have the microphone, then it isn’t freedom at all—it’s permission.
Republicans want us to believe they are the guardians of liberty. But the evidence tells another story. They don’t want free speech. They want controlled speech. They want power without critique. And they will continue to weaponize the language of freedom to silence those who remind us that freedom, real freedom, requires truth.
That’s why this moment matters. We cannot let free speech become another empty slogan, stripped of meaning. If democracy is to survive, it will not be because the powerful protected their right to speak without consequence. It will be because we defended the right of the marginalized, the critical, and the inconvenient to speak at all. Even when we can face consequences.
Preston Mitchum is a policy consultant, attorney-activist, writer, and television personality whose work focuses on the intersections of racial justice, health and gender equity, and LGBTQ+ rights.
SEE ALSO:
Understanding The First Amendment And Why We Need To Protect It
Trump Attacks Free Speech, As Pam Bondi Targets Journalists
From Professor Watchlists To Firing Karen Attiah: The GOP’s War On Free Speech was originally published on newsone.com
