ONE OF MANY EGREGIOUS LIES BY TRUMP IN HIS “SPEECH”
Dr. Common Good
There were so, so many lies spewed out by Trump in his joint session rant on Tuesday that I can’t possibly address all of them. But I will mention one that is just stunning. He said, “I brought back free speech in America.” What? That is monstrously false. Ask anyone who teaches a class, anyone who works (or did work) in a federal agency, or anyone who does research, just to name a few. Trump and Musk’s junior minions have been ripping through these activities, searching for anything that uses one or more newly prohibited words as a guide for what to eliminate or de-fund. For the National Science Foundation, as one example, that list of prohibited words includes:
- activism
- activism
- advocacy
- advocate
- advocates
- barrier
- barriers
- biased
- biased toward
- biases
- biases towards
- bipoc
- black and latinx
- community diversity
- community equity
- cultural differences
- cultural heritage
- culturally responsive
- disabilities
- disability
- discriminated
- discrimination
- discriminatory
- diverse backgrounds
- diverse communities
- diverse community
- diverse group
- diverse groups
- diversified
- diversify
- diversifying
- diversity and inclusion
- diversity equity
- enhance the diversity
- enhancing diversity
- equal opportunity
- equality
- equitable
- equity
- ethnicity
- excluded
- female
- females
- fostering inclusivity
- gender
- gender diversity
- genders
- hate speech
- excluded
- female
- females
- fostering inclusivity
- gender
- gender diversity
- genders
- hate speech
- hispanic minority
- historically
- implicit bias
- implicit biases
- inclusion
- inclusive
- inclusiveness
- inclusivity
- increase diversity
- increase the diversity
- indigenous community
- inequalities
- inequality
- inequitable
- inequities
- institutional
- LGBT
- marginalize
- marginalized
- minorities
- minority
- multicultural
- polarization
- political
- prejudice
- privileges
- promoting diversity
- race and ethnicity
- racial
- racial diversity
- racial inequality
- racial justice
- racially
- racism
- sense of belonging
- sexual preferences
- social justice
- sociocultural
- socioeconomic
- status
- stereotypes
- systemic
- trauma
- under appreciated
- under represented
- under served
- underrepresentation
- underrepresented
- underserved
- undervalued
- victim
- women
- women and underrepresented
[Notice that female and women are on that list, but no mention of male or men]
Now tell me that Trump and his hatchet-boys have brought back free speech. This is pure, unadulterated censorship. And his claim is a flat-out lie to the American people.