Tech mogul Elon Musk has done more to safeguard our free speech rights than anyone else for generations. For that, following his inauguration in January 2025, President-elect Donald Trump should issue Musk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.
In 1945, President John F. Kennedy changed the original “Medal of Freedom,” which was intended to honor people who had notably served in World War II. He issued an executive order elevating the award to the “Presidential Medal of Freedom” and expanding its scope.
Under Kennedy’s executive order, the president may now issue the prestigious award to any person with “meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
Without a doubt, free speech is one of our most important national interests, and it has long been under attack. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, Democratic government officials working for the Biden administration coordinated with Big Tech to silence debate over the origins of COVID-19, questions about the safety of the vaccine, and the efficacy of masks. This type of censorship not only violates the First Amendment but is dangerous for democracy.
Just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, a verified story surfaced that was extremely inconvenient to then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The Hunter Biden laptop story revealed information regarding Hunter Biden’s suspected dealings with foreign governments, drug use, and sex acts.
Big Tech and the media suppressed the New York Post’s bombshell report — a move that likely affected the outcome of the 2020 election. Senior Twitter employees at that time met regularly with government officials from the intelligence community, who assured them that the story was “fake news.”
Indeed, we knew about such insidious censorship long before Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg admitted to it in a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in August 2024. In his letter, Zuckerberg wrote, “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.”
On the other hand, Musk always knew the government pressure was wrong and acted accordingly. Not only was he outspoken against censorship, but in 2022, he also spent $44 billion to take control of Twitter and fight against the overt violation of our free speech rights.
In December 2022, after gaining control of the company, Musk released the “Twitter Files,” proving the coordinated effort to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story. Internal communications released by Musk showed that top-level workers at Twitter used the company’s “hacked materials” policy as an excuse to bury the information that was so inconvenient to the Democratic Party at that time.
Without Musk’s commitment to free speech, it is unlikely that we would have learned the inner workings of the government’s sordid relationship with Big Tech in its efforts to keep the public in the dark.
Given his proven track record for supporting free speech, it was admirable but not particularly surprising when Musk offered voters in swing states financial incentives this year to sign a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments of the Constitution. His advocacy certainly brought public attention to the importance of free speech, which likely helped Trump in his victory in all seven of the swing states.
There are few, if any, issues more central to the “national interests of the United States” than free speech. No one has done more to fight the Left’s suppression than Elon Musk. And for that, he deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom and our deepest gratitude.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM RESTORING AMERICA
Stephanie Lundquist-Arora is a contributor for the Washington Examiner and The Federalist, a mother in Fairfax County, Virginia, an author, and the Fairfax chapter leader of the Independent Women’s Network.