Babylon Bee CEO shoots down claim that conservatives are free speech hypocrites by resurfacing Trump jokes

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Media top headlines July 6

New York Times getting hit by critics and lawmakers for suggesting U.S. flag is now 'alienating some,' NPR decrying the Declaration of Independence as a document with 'deeply ingrained hypocrisies,' and an NBC News historian fawning over Biden round out today's top media headlines

The Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon brought receipts when a liberal writer accused conservatives of playing the victim when satire is aimed at their own by resurfacing multiple examples of his conservative satirical site poking fun at former President Trump. 

Left-wing website Salon published a story Monday headlined, "When conservatives play the victim over satire: It's only ‘free speech’ when they're making jokes," that attacked the satirical site and Dillon by name when declaring Trump reportedly wanted the Justice Department to stop comedians and "Saturday Night Live" from mocking him. 

"What's sort of fun to watch is the whiplash performed when the right expresses outrage in both directions. For example, Seth Dillon, CEO of the Babylon Bee, made a classic free speech, anti-censorship argument when he complained about Facebook possibly limiting the circulation of their posts," Salon’s Sophia McClennen wrote. 

BABYLON BEE CEO SAYS SATIRICAL SITE ‘PUNCHING BACK’ AGAINST LIBERAL MEDIA, BIG TECH CENSORSHIP

McClennen then took to Twitter to promote her article and asked why the Bee "didn’t defend Alec Baldwin when they learned #Trump wanted the DOJ to go after him" before answering her own question. "BC conservatives just play the victim over satire: It's only ‘free speech’ when they're making jokes," she added. 

Dillon took notice and offered his own answer to the liberal writer’s rhetorical question. 

"We were too busy doing the same thing as SNL—making fun of Trump," he wrote. 

The liberal Salon writer asked for examples and Dillon quickly obliged, sharing an assortment of stories that poked fun at the former president. 

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"That’s a good one. Thanks for sharing. But making fun of Trump doesn’t mean that the right isn’t hypocritical on free speech," McClennen wrote. "Also curious if Trump ever got annoyed by one of your pieces. Any backlash from him?"

Dillon shot back, "Trump's dislike for jokes at his expense doesn't mean the right is hypocritical on free speech. All it means is that Trump is sensitive. If you'd reached out to me and asked me if I think left-wing satirists should be silenced, what do you think I'd tell you?"