Trump vs Reddit: Free Speech In The Balance
What A Day
What A Day
4.6 • 12.6K Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
President Donald Trump and Co. have historically claimed to be all about free speech. But maybe Trump only cares about free speech when he likes what's being said. Earlier this month, The Intercept reported that the Department of Justice is taking Reddit to court to force the massive social media platform to unmask one of its users. Why? Because Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been desperately trying to identify the user who said stuff ICE doesn't like.To learn more about what's going on with Reddit and the Justice Department, we spoke with Ryan Devereaux. He's an investigative journalist for the Intercept.
And in headlines, FBI Director Kash Patel says he's going to sue The Atlantic for a 'defamatory article', companies that paid Trump's emergency tariffs can start claiming refunds, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright brings more bad news about gas prices.
Show Notes:
- Check out Ryan's piece – https://tinyurl.com/5akbsrww
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Monday, April 20th. |
| 0:05.0 | I'm Jane Koston, and this is What a Day. |
| 0:07.0 | The show starting off the week with something genuinely fun. |
| 0:10.0 | New York City mayors around Mamdani and former President Barack Obama meeting for the first time |
| 0:14.3 | to read to pre-kindergarteners in the Bronx on Saturday. |
| 0:17.4 | And those kids were well aware of who they were getting to see. |
| 0:20.5 | You know my name? |
| 0:21.6 | Yeah, I know you're done. |
| 0:22.6 | What's his first name? |
| 0:27.7 | Mayor, Mumdadi. |
| 0:29.7 | That's his name of Matt. |
| 0:34.1 | First name, Mayor, last name, Mumdadi. |
| 0:36.4 | Check's out. |
| 0:44.7 | Okay. First name mayor, last name I'm daddy. Check's out. On today's show, President Donald Trump says he's too busy to be depressed. |
| 0:48.5 | And where in the world is FBI director Cash Patel? |
| 0:51.5 | Seriously, where is he? |
| 0:53.6 | Maybe in court soon. But let's start with free speech. |
| 0:57.3 | President Trump and his administration have claimed to be really, really into free speech. |
| 1:01.9 | For example, there was this campaign video from December 2022. |
| 1:05.3 | If we don't have free speech, then we just don't have a free country. It's as simple as that. If this most fundamental right is allowed to perish, |
| 1:14.6 | then the rest of our rights and liberties will topple, just like dominoes, one by one. They'll go down. |
| 1:21.4 | And there was that executive order he signed on day one back in the White House in 2025, |
... |
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