SpaceX owner Elon Musk's struggles with a California panel that blocked his company from increasing how many rockets it launches from a U.S. air base in the state is a clear example of "how perilous free speech is," retired Judge Andrew Napolitano said on Newsmax Friday.
"If the government can suppress the free speech of the richest man on the planet" and potentially that of Donald Trump, "the former and probably future president of the United States, they can suppress anybody's speech," Napolitano told Newsmax's "National Report." "And that is contrary to the First Amendment. That is un-American."
Musk's SpaceX this week sued the California Coastal Commission in federal court, seeking an order barring the agency from regulating the company's Falcon 9 rocket launch program at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The lawsuit claims that the commission, which oversees the use of land and water within the state's more than 1,000 miles of coastline, unfairly asserted its regulatory powers over launches because of Musk's conservative political views.
"The state of California punished the speech of the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, who is about to send a rocket ship the size of a 25-story building into the sky, carrying a payload under an agreement with the federal government," said Napolitano.
"Elon Musk owns the launch pad, and he owns the earth around the launch pad. But he needs the permission of the California Coastal Commission to shoot the rocket up."
The commission though, denied permission after two members said Musk "uttered a political falsehood" when he criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the federal government's efforts to address climate control, said Napolitano.
But, under the First Amendment, "there's no such thing as a political falsehood," he said. "You can utter any political ideas you want, and the government can't punish you for it. But the state of California denied him and the feds the ability to get this satellite in the sky. It's now in the hands of a federal judge."
That judge will likely tell the Coastal Commission to "go take a hike," said Napolitano.
SpaceX had never been denied permission to launch the rockets until now, Napolitano added.
"So be careful what you say about FEMA, because somebody will consider it a political falsehood, and they'll try and punish you," he said. "That's not America. He has the right to say whatever he wants. There's no such thing as a political falsehood. He can utter any opinion he chooses to, whether he's Elon Musk or not."
The federal government also tried to silence Musk when it subpoenaed the content of GOP nominee Donald Trump's personal mobile device, as well as sending a demand to X, accompanied by a gag order, said Napolitano.
"That defies the First Amendment," Napolitano said. "It's a public event that the government subpoenaed these documents."
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