ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Say free speech to a Republican and you get a very different definition than when you say free speech to a Democrat.

The Democrats’ version was on display this past weekend in Washington, D.C., when scores of antifa thugs hurled such well-thought-out arguments to political problems as, “You don’t even know who the f— we are,” while rearing in the face of a USA Today journalist and photographer who were at the scene and, indeed, in the throes of finding out who the “f—” they were.

Vox reported similarly.

“Unite the Right rally 2018: Antifa attacks police and journalists in Charlottesville and Washington, DC,” one Vox headline read.

More leftist-style examples of free speech?

“F— you! Who the f— do you protect? Who the f— do you serve? You’re all Ameri-KKK, fascist pieces of sh—,” screamed one at police, Breitbart reported.

Then there was this, another headline from the same news outlet: “Watch — Black Lives Matter Activists Surround Cars, Attack Drivers: ‘Back the F— Up!”

Riveting, right? But that’s First Amendment freedoms in action, leftist style — Democratic Party rubber-stamped style.

Republicans, meanwhile — at least some of them — have been busily trying to maintain their own free speech rights and gasping for air to preserve their own freedoms of expression on social media.

“Zuckerberg’s Facebook changes threaten conservative speech on social media,” ran one Fox News headline back in April.

“85 Percent of Republicans Say Facebook, Twitter Censor,” ran another headline in June, this one from Newsweek.

And then came the purging of Alex Jones, for speaking what was deemed by his social media censors — and there were many — as hate speech. Hate speech, which isn’t even a real thing in America — not (for the most part) in any sort of prosecutorial way, that is.

Republicans speak — and that’s too offensive to bear. Democrats scream obscenities, rally in the streets, push and shove and cause mayhem and madness, block traffic, and worse — and that’s protected expressions.

What a difference a political affiliation makes.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter, @ckchumley.

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