Free-market consequences for free-market choices? Sign me up. Government-imposed political speech? Er … not so much.
In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the country has once again erupted in debate as to when consequences for performative speech cross over into “cancel culture.” In my opinion, market consequences for immediate inflammatory speech don’t cross the line into cancellation when that inflammatory speech serves to cheer on murders or cast blame on the victim, but I recognize that considerable nuance exists, more generally speaking.
However, when government uses its prosecutorial power to either curtail speech or make it compulsory, the nuances rapidly disappear. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News that the Department of Justice would prosecute any print service that refused to make posters for vigils honoring Kirk as a civil-rights violation:
Bondi: If you want to go and print posters with Charlie’s picture for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that. We have right now our civil rights unit looking at that. pic.twitter.com/GugF4PsGwZ
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 16, 2025
BONDI: That’s horrific, it’s free speech, you shouldn’t be employed anywhere if you’re going to say that. And employers, you have an obligation to get rid of people — you need to look at people who are saying horrible things, and they shouldn’t be working with you. Businesses cannot discriminate. If you want to go in and print posters with Charlie’s pictures on them for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that. But I have Harmeet Dhillon right now in our Civil Rights unit looking at that immediately, that Office Depot had done that, we’re looking at that.
Ahem. The Office Depot issue blew up last week when one employee at one location in Michigan refused service to a customer (the Kalamazoo County Republican Party) who wanted to make fliers for a Kirk prayer vigil. The employees claimed that they are not required to print “political propaganda.” The video went viral:
Today at 2:24 PM, the Kalamazoo County Republican Party #KGOP placed an order for a poster of #CharlieKirk for a vigil tonight. At 5:30 “Beryl” the print supervisor (guy on left) called and said they are refusing to print the poster because it is “propaganda.” Hey @officedepot… pic.twitter.com/pKHAQ2OQda
— Matthew S. DePerno, Esq. (@mdeperno) September 12, 2025
They went to FedEx instead, which not only filled the order but did so for free. (Kudos to FedEx, by the way!) The backlash in the marketplace (mainly on social media) was strong enough for Office Depot’s HQ to notice, and the employee who refused service got fired.
Looks like the free market worked! So why is Bondi “looking at” this case at all? The employee was a raging sphincter, but technically, she was correct — excepting only that she didn’t have the corporate authority to make that decision, as she belatedly discovered. Businesses have the right to refuse service except only on narrow grounds involving class-wide discrimination. They especially have the right to refuse to participate in political speech with which they disagree.
This is no small distinction. We have been fighting for more than a decade on this very point on behalf of Baronelle Stutzman and Jack Phillips, both of whom got sued and regulated into oblivion for refusing to participate in same-sex weddings. Phillips in particular has been a flashpoint with his Masterpiece Cakeshop and the ongoing persecution by Colorado officials. The Supreme Court has ruled in his favor on this point, albeit too weakly to prevent further harassment, but it has ruled in other cases more emphatically to put an end to government-compelled political speech.
I have no problem at all with bad speech getting the proper market consequences, as I wrote in our latest Townhall Commentary at Salem Media:
Welcome to the consequences of your own actions … and welcome to the precedents the Left has set for years for punishing its opponents. If you publicly celebrate or condone a political assassination, don’t be surprised if your employers and clients want to distance themselves.
What Bondi threatens, however, is using the power of government to compel business owners into either silence or a particular political message. Jack Phillips has spent more than a decade fighting that in Colorado, and is still fighting that to this day. Bondi is way out over her skis on this issue, and either needs to retract that threat or perhaps reconsider her role in this administration. Charlie Kirk got killed because he wanted more speech, and this is not the way to honor his life.
Editor’s Note: Every single day, here at Hot Air, we will stand up and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT against the radical left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.
Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership!
