Trump Actually Has a Point About the RNC’s Ads
The Republican National Committee is essentially implying that they have the former president’s endorsement.
In happier times.
Photographer: Olivier Douliery/Getty Images/Getty Images North AmericaFormer Republican president Donald Trump is trying to block the Republican National Committee from using his image in their fundraising efforts. He has no legal case: Trump is a public figure and can’t stop anyone from using his image in the course of political speech. But if you think of it in terms of U.S. campaign finance customs rather than in terms of free speech, Trump has a point. And that is very rare indeed.
First Amendment principles are clear: public figures really are different when it comes to image control. It’s one thing for an ordinary person to be able to control the use of her image. That makes both legal and economic sense, because as a private person you should be able to choose who gets to display and make a profit from what you look like. But when you have run for president and won and dominated the political conversation for the last five years, you should not be able to control the use of your image in a political context. Such censorship would detract too much from the valuable exchange of political ideas.