Anticipating the publication of today's article in Tangle, I wrote this political commentary over the past weekend because I was immediately alarmed by Trump’s May 1st attack on public media. I understand Isaac’s position, but I believe this moment calls for a stronger response.
While I agree that government funding can present a conflict of interest, the executive order’s timing and intent raise fundamental concerns about freedom of the press and the much broader implications for democracy. Trump’s action is not merely about fiscal policy -- I firmly believe it’s part of a dangerous trend of undermining institutions that act as checks on power.
This is what I wrote a couple of days ago …
His executive order to defund NPR and PBS is a brazen authoritarian move and a direct assault on the First Amendment. The fact that it’s the “first” amendment is no accident: the framers of our Constitution placed it at the forefront of the Bill of Rights because a free press and the right to speak and dissent are the foundation of a functioning democracy.
Framed as a response to “radical, woke propaganda,” this executive order has nothing to do with fiscal discipline or media reform. The claim that NPR and PBS are biased is unfounded because it ignores the critical role these institutions have played in offering diverse perspectives and independent, fact-based reporting. Public funding for these outlets is not about supporting a partisan agenda; it’s about ensuring that all Americans have access to information free from corporate interests or political influence.
This assault is a deliberate attempt to muzzle independent journalism and strip away the constitutional protections that stand between democracy and tyranny. While it may not be automatically unconstitutional, the executive order raises serious First Amendment concerns.
If the move is motivated by hostility toward critical coverage -- and all signs point to that --then it can be viewed as retaliation against protected speech. Courts have ruled in similar situations that such retaliatory defunding violates the First Amendment, which prohibits the federal government from using its power to suppress, punish, or inhibit free expression, including press criticism of public officials.
Some may argue that the federal government has the right to reallocate funding based on shifting priorities; that’s true from a legal standpoint. For the most part, the government can decide how to distribute public funds, especially when the justification is framed in ideological or budgetary terms.
Yet, intent matters. When the purpose is to punish dissent or discredit factual reporting, there’s a strong case that such action undermines the constitutional guarantee of a free press. NPR and PBS may be editorially independent, but if funding cuts are used as a weapon to intimidate or silence them, the effect is still corrosive to democratic norms.
Trump’s executive order is not an isolated act. It fits a broader pattern of undermining institutions that challenge his narrative, from discrediting the press to purging watchdog agencies, all in service of seizing unchecked control and suppressing dissent.
The playbook Trump is using is chillingly familiar. In the early 1930s, Hitler rose to power by relentlessly attacking Germany’s free press, branding independent journalism the “Lügenpresse” (“lying press”), and accusing it of betraying the nation. His regime then dismantled independent media entirely, replacing it with state-controlled propaganda that served the Nazi party’s agenda. It’s important to note that this was a central mechanism of control, used to silence criticism, manipulate public opinion, and justify increasingly extreme abuses of power -- exactly what is unfolding now in the United States, before our very eyes.
Trump’s rhetoric and actions echo Hitler’s strategy with disturbing precision: delegitimizing the media as “fake news,” elevating loyalist outlets, demanding retribution against journalists, threatening to revoke press credentials, undermining whistleblowers, attacking legal and judicial figures who oppose him, and now using executive power to defund public broadcasters.
It’s obvious that Trump’s goal is not reform but the subjugation of the press, the public, and ultimately, democratic resistance. History has shown where this path leads -- an insidious road to authoritarian rule and the destruction of democratic freedoms.
This is not an alarmist view. It is a logical, historically-grounded response to a dangerous precedent. If left unchallenged, this action will not only damage public media but also accelerate the unraveling of democratic norms, contributing in real and lasting ways to the erosion of our republic.
To dismiss or downplay the significance of this executive order is to engage in willful denial. Like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand, such complacency empowers the very authoritarianism it refuses to acknowledge. Silence in the face of this kind of power grab is not neutrality -- it’s surrender disguised as indifference.
If we watch from the sidelines and do nothing, we aren’t just complicit -- we are collaborators in the dismantling of our own democracy. For nearly 250 years, the United States has stood as a global symbol of freedom. That symbol will be shattered -- not by a tyrant’s hand alone, but by the collective failure of Americans too indifferent, credulous, or afraid to defend it. Now is the time to speak out, to resist, and to act before silence becomes utter submission, and our democracy becomes a memory.
Ultimately, the First Amendment is only as strong as the institutions that uphold it. The real question is whether Congress and the Supreme Court will fulfill their constitutional duty or remain silent while the foundation of our democracy is dismantled. If these separate-but-equal branches of government fail to act, they won’t simply be passive observers; they will actively contribute to the unraveling of the very freedoms they were designed to protect.
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