LONDON — Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is the ultimate hypocrite when it comes to free speech.

Consider the mayor's comment on Friday to BBC radio as to why he allowed protesters to fly a blimp of Trump above London. According to BuzzFeed's Emily Ashton, Khan made a moral case that emotional discomfort should never be a rationale for speech restrictions.

Sadiq Khan on why he allowed the Trump baby blimp: "Can you imagine if we limited freedom of speech because somebody's feelings might be hurt?" #r4today — Emily Ashton (@elashton) July 13, 2018



I agree with that sentiment entirely and I support Khan's decision to allow the stupid Trump blimp to fly. Viewpoints on matters of public or political import should always come before an individual desire to avoid discomfort.

But Sadiq Khan has absolutely zero credibility to make that argument.

Khan is a leading voice for restricting free speech on Twitter. He says that those restrictions are crucial towards preventing hatred from hurting eyes or ears. Of course, the problem with Khan's position is that it would achieve the opposite effect of that which all media platforms are ultimately designed to achieve: the vigorous and expansive expression of ideas.

Khan is right to stand up for the right of his citizens to air their views in opposition or favor of Trump. But the mayor can't in any sense claim the moral leadership he assumes here. After all, the restricted free speech world which Khan says he hates to "imagine" is the exact same that his Twitter arguments would create.