This editorial was originally published by The Guardian and was distributed by The Associated Press.

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At the memorial for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump paid a peculiar tribute. Having quoted Kirk’s words of forgiveness, he put aside the script. “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie,” he said. “I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them.” It was a stark and clarifying admission. Trump does not seek to criminalize hate speech so much as to criminalize speech he hates.

The United States is being dragged into a state of emergency. Speech is framed as terrorism. Satire is rebranded as enemy propaganda. Employers punish workers for personal posts. The predictable result is a chilling climate of surveillance and reprisal, in which citizens learn to k

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