Top of Mind Thursday – April 30, 2026: Word Power

When is free speech not free speech?

We know it’s illegal to yell “Fire” in a crowded theatre, or to engage in speech that clearly threatens to harm an individual—particularly when that individual is the president of the United States. But what if the so-called threat is not so clearly delineated?

Following a third attempt to assassinate the president (foiled by quick thinking law enforcement personnel), there has been outrage about comments made by late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, and a photo taken by former FBI director James Comey. President Trump has called for Kimmel to be fired and the DOJ arrested Comey.

As it turns out, Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melanie Trump being a prospective widow (likely because she’s so much younger than the president) before Saturday’s assassination attempt. Comey took a photograph a year ago of a set of seashells in North Carolina that spelled 86 47, which was taken to be a threat to take out the president.

Both of these acts seem to be in poor taste and not particularly funny. However, that doesn’t mean that either rises to a criminal level. A number of legal experts have weighed in on the Comey case, saying it’s one of the weakest cases they’ve seen in decades and they don’t expect it to survive the court system.

The irony in all this is the site of Saturday’s assassination attempt was the White House Correspondents Association dinner—an event meant to honor members of the press who champion free speech.

Americans have poked fun at politicians since the beginning of the republic 250 years ago, and do so regardless of political affiliation. If every political opponent who spoke out against sitting politicians were arrested, our jails would be overflowing and our right to free speech would be non-existent. In fact, we’d be much more like Iran, Russia, Cuba, or China than the America we know today.

Words do have power. In fact, the vicious rhetoric seems to come as much from politicians on both sides of the aisle as it does from others. If the goal is to lower the temperature and avoid inciting further violence, perhaps our legislators could model the appropriate behavior they’d like us to follow.

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