Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) spoke about civil liberties, the current political climate, and the upcoming U.S. presidential election in an event hosted by the Georgetown Free Speech Project on Sept. 13.
Professor Sanford J. Ungar, director of the Georgetown Free Speech Project, moderated the conversation. He began by asking Raskin whether the country is truly as divided as the media portrays, and if the upcoming election will ratchet up those existing tensions. Raskin said that while he believes the country is divided, he does think the nation will come together to keep former President Donald Trump out of office.
“The vast majority of the country still rejects authoritarianism,” Raskin said. “I think the vast majority of the country is pro-choice, it’s pro-environment, it’s pro-labor, it’s pro-freedom, and it’s pro-democracy.”
Raskin went on to recount the unique founding of the United States, describing how the Founding Fathers’ commitment to values like freedom of expression and separation of church and state laid the foundation for an American democracy that distinguished itself from the monarchy that preceded it.
“The extraordinary thing about America is that the people have insisted on a different direction,” Raskin said. “There is no democracy without freedom, but there’s also no freedom without democracy.“
The conversation then shifted to a discussion of last week’s presidential debate, where immigration was a major topic. Raskin specifically criticized Trump’s proposal to deport millions of migrant workers.
“We have chronic labor shortages,” Raskin said. “We need workers. We need labor. And they’re talking about deporting 18 million people from the country and creating a reign of terror.”
In discussing the debate, Ungar also asked about the moment in Trump’s June debate when Trump refused to respond to the question of whether he will accept the results of the upcoming election.
Raskin, who authored a book titled Unthinkable about his experience inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack which was fueled by election denial, took Trump’s non-answer as an indication of political strategies that Raskin believes are increasingly authoritarian.
“He avowedly did not say that he would respect the results of the election,” said Raskin. “That’s a hallmark sign of a fascist political party: ‘I don’t accept the possibility that I might lose.’”
Ungar then redirected the conversation to a discussion of the ideological makeup of the United States Supreme Court, which Raskin used as an opportunity to criticize the current court and what he sees as its clear partisanism. He specifically cited the Court’s recent decision on presidential immunity, arguing that several justices essentially ignored a section of the 14th Amendment in order to grant the U.S. president an unprecedented degree of immunity in decision-making.
“They’re not textualists, they’re not originalists,” Raskin said. “They’re acting like a bunch of tawdry partisans, and also ones who are feathering their own nests.”
Raskin went on to describe a bill he introduced in Congress that would cap outside gifts to Supreme Court Justices.
“[Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and I have legislation to apply the $50 gift ban, which exists for Congress and the executive branch, to the Supreme Court,” Raskin said. “They make double the amount of money members of Congress do. They can pay for their own vacation.”
Ungar then turned to free speech and disinformation, asking Raskin if he supports insulating spreaders of fake news. Raskin responded that political lies should be countered with truths, not government suppression.
“What’s the alternative?” Raskin asked. “The government is going to decide what’s a lie and what’s the truth? I don’t think so.”
Raskin insisted that free speech in all forms is imperative to a healthy, functioning democracy.
“You can’t have meaningful democratic institutions and democratic culture in life if people can’t express themselves, and that includes the right to be wrong, the right to contradict other people, the right to be contradicted, the right to put your ideas out there,” Raskin said.
Part of the joy surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign right now, Raskin said, comes from debunking lies spread by the other side. He emphasized the importance of embracing that surge of hope and optimism that many voters experienced when Harris announced her candidacy, rather than falling into an attitude of nihilism and cynicism.
“[Harris’ campaign] is an exciting, open, funny campaign based on music and comedy and community organizing. That’s what politics should be about in a democratic society, not a package of lies,” Raskin said. “That takes us away from real democracy. That’s what the autocrats and the dictators are doing all over the world, and that’s what they’re trying to do here. So, make democracy fun.”
As the event came to a close, Raskin made it clear that his patriotism and commitment to the United States is not based in a blind love of the country’s entire past, but in a hopeful vision for what it could become. Voters, civilians, and community leaders are at the center of Raskin’s dream for America.
“I would never try to hold up America as the perfect democracy. We began as a slave republic of white male property owners over age 21,” Raskin said. “But through successive waves of social and political struggle and constitutional amendments, we’ve gotten much closer to becoming Lincoln’s beautiful vision of government: of the people, by the people and for the people.”
