Republican Rep. Randy Fine sat down with Carl Higbie on FRONTLINE this week to talk about a fight that should matter to every patriotic American: who gets to speak for conservatism, and who gets silenced. Fine made it plain that conservatives are still willing to debate ideas in public, even as powerful institutions on the left move to erase dissenting voices.
The bigger truth Fine hammered is obvious to anyone paying attention — when conservatives argue among themselves, the other side uses the machinery of Big Tech, legacy media, and the activist class to shut people down. That isn’t robust debate; it’s a one-sided demolition of the marketplace of ideas, and Americans who believe in free speech should be furious about it.
Fine didn’t just talk theory. He pressed for concrete policy, highlighting his push to stop noncitizens from tapping welfare programs and calling out how entitlement culture drags down opportunity for honest, hard-working citizens. Conservatives who want real results will applaud elected officials who pair cultural resolve with bills that defend taxpayers and citizens first.
At the same time, Fine showed he’s not blind to the dangers of extremist rhetoric finding a home inside the movement; he has publicly condemned antisemitism and even warned about high-profile figures who have veered into toxic territory. If our movement wants to win elections and redeem the culture, we cannot pretend that every voice is above criticism — especially when that voice tips into bigotry or sympathizes with our enemies.
Conservative stalwarts have also called out this problem from within — Michael Savage, for example, blasted recent decisions to platform fringe provocateurs and made clear that giving oxygen to antisemites and racists is self-defeating. We must be ruthless about rejecting radicals while remaining unbowed against the left’s censorship campaigns.
This is the balance patriots must demand: defend free speech against the tech commissars and the media commissars, but don’t turn our movement into a refuge for extremists who would drag our cause into disgrace. We win by standing for principle, governing for citizens, and refusing both the left’s cancel culture and the right’s convenient moral blind spots.
Hardworking Americans should remember what’s at stake — schools, jobs, the safety of our neighborhoods, and the future of the Republic. Vote for leaders who will fight the double threat: the elites who silence dissent and the radicals who betray conservative principles. That’s how we turn debate back into victory.
