Mike asks about the Patriot Act which was passed following the Sept 11th, 2001 attacks.

GALLAGHER: We shall see. It’s September 11th. We’re broadcasting from Lower Manhattan. It’s been 22 years since the September 11th attacks changed our world forever, changed our way of life, changed the way we view all things like freedom. Freedom is on my mind today a lot. And I want to start with a difficult question about 911. You know, 911 spurred the Patriot Act, where steps the government felt that steps needed to be taken in order to be able to thwart terrorism and the Patriot Act essential. We took away the freedom that many, many Americans had enjoyed. Now, I understand we got to try to figure out how to battle terrorism. I totally get it. But what I’m not too clear on is when the door got cracked open, where today the government is criminalizing speech to such an extent that they want to lock up the 45th president of the United States. The New York Times did a huge piece. Trump’s indictments. Key players in the 2020 election effort is quite the quite the article. They call out just about everyone in Trump’s orbit and essentially accused them of being coconspirators in a crime to overturn the 2020 election. It’s insane. It’s insane to witness the absolute destruction of speech in this country. And I want to ask you a difficult question. I want to start with it. Did it begin with the Patriot Act? Did this begin with 911? Because my hunch is it might have. And if so, then Republicans are culpable as well. I think the more immediate place we’re at right now is due to COVID. COVID cracked open the door to say, hey, if you question anything about the vaccine or about masks or about lockdowns, we’re going to destroy your life. We’re going to get you fired. We’re going to de-platform you. We might even put lock you up if you dare. I know a guy who lost a job, a good job, because he expressed a belief on social media that he shouldn’t have to wear a mask while he went to church. And they fired because his coworkers were triggered by him. Now, he has since since sued the employer and I hope he wins. That’s still winding its way, I think, through the legal process. But that’s just one example of many. Everybody has an example. Everybody knows an example of somebody who paid a heavy price for daring to open their mouth. It used to be that America is a place where you were allowed to open your mouth. You were allowed to question authority, you were allowed to question any narrative you wanted, and we weren’t going to lock you up for it.