Trump Administration Danger

The Trump Administration Represents a Clear and Present Danger to the Freedom of Speech in the United States
I. Introduction
The Trump administration has come under attack just about all of its actions since he took office about a month ago, receiving criticism on everything from ‘Muslim’ ban 2to his cabinet appointments to his war with the ‘mainstream media’. While the latter is well documented, the larger idea that the Trump administration is threat to Freedom of Speech is less considered. However, holistically looking at the Trump Administration’s constant and undeterred pronouncement of objectively false statements and its ongoing effort to undermine the media, it is clear that the Trump administration represents a clear and present danger
The main perpetrator of this is the President himself, often lashing on Twitter or to the media with provocative, verifiably false statements. For example, he repeatedly told the media and his followers that he garnered the most electoral college votes since Ronald Reagan; in fact, he only outperformed George W. Bush out of the four previous presidents (CNN). This example was not just a mishap; similar behavior has been a staple of Trump’s campaign and now presidency. This sort of purposeful use of misinformation and propaganda for self-aggrandizement by a person in power is alarmingly reminiscent of historical authoritarian figures, who often limit freedom of speech to avoid criticism and silence opposing views. More poignant, however, are the occasions in which the Trump administration uses lies to set the stage for political action or to rally people against a false enemy. For example, he claimed on Twitter that at least three million votes were illegal, and continues to do so even though the claim has absolutely no bearing in reality - there are is no credible evidence that this is true and is rated as extremely unlikely by fact checkers (Politifact). The Trump Administration, directly or indirectly, may use this lie as part of its justification for stringent voter ID
Trump has fought with the “main stream media” since the beginnings of his campaign, boycotting Fox-News’ Republican Primary debate (Fox News). The tensions have only intensified since his presidency, often berating the media, including reputable news networks like the New York Times, for waging a war against him with ‘Fake news’. However, he fails to provide evidence as to exactly what news networks are misreporting, simply referring to “negative coverage as ‘so evil and so bad’ and that ‘they write lies’;” statements absent of examples of the supposed lies (Breitbart). The repugnance is so strong that Steven Bannon, the administration’s chief strategist, labeled the media as the “opposition party” (Politico), and Trump himself doubled down by labeling it as the “Enemy of the American People.” (New York Times) This radical stance is incredibly alarming as it pits the Media, the ultimate manifestation of opposing views and by extension free speech, as an enemy of the state, possibly justifying or inciting the silence of entities that the Trump administration arbitrarily labels a