"When 97 percent of the stories are bad," President Donald Trump declared on Friday, "it's no longer free speech." When TV networks "take a great story" and "make it bad," he added, "I think that's really illegal."
Trump was wrong on both points. And in groping toward a justification for the regulatory threats that preceded Jimmy Kimmel's expulsion from his late-night slot on ABC, Trump embraced a principle that historically was bad for conservatives—one they are apt to regret reviving.
"You have a network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump," the president complained. "They're licensed. They're not allowed to do that."