Bondi’s free speech stance confounds critics
When James Asher, the head of the Young Republicans in Kalamazoo, Michigan, popped into an Office Depot to print posters for a Charlie Kirk vigil, an employee refused, calling the poster — which read “The Legendary Charlie Kirk, 1993-2025” — propaganda. The poster was not printed, and 21-year-old Asher filmed the confrontation, which went viral. Office Depot responded by firing the employee and issuing an apology.
The company’s response wasn’t enough for Attorney General Pam Bondi, however.
Bondi told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the employee’s denial of service could be grounds for prosecution.
“Businesses cannot discriminate,” Bondi said. “If you want to go in and print posters with Charlie’s pictures on them for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that.”
But critics accuse the attorney general and other supporters of President Donald Trump of hypocrisy. They point to the administration’s support for a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court.
“The MAGA crowd only cares about discrimination when they’re the ones whining about it,” liberal political activist and commentator Jasmyne Cannick wrote on Facebook. “Cakes for gay weddings—’absolutely not.’ Vigil flyers for Charlie Kirk—’a sacred constitutional right.’ The hypocrisy is so thick you could frost a damn wedding cake with it.”
The right to refuse
Privately owned companies may refuse service to anyone, as long as it’s not discriminatory. U.S. federal laws — such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act — say businesses cannot refuse to serve customers because of their religion, gender or skin color.
However, refusing service for political beliefs is not generally protected by federal law.
Free speech or discrimination?
The Office Depot refusal-of-service episode raises more questions about the thin line between discrimination and freedom of speech. In recent years, these issues have sparked debate and been argued in courtrooms across the nation.
Two recent Supreme Court cases complicated the issue.
In 2018, the court ruled in favor of the baker who refused to make a cake for a gay couple. And in 2023, in the 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis case, the court took the side of a Christian website designer who didn’t want to make wedding websites for same-sex couples. The court said the First Amendment protected the designer.
Last week, Bondi said she had referred the Office Depot incident to the Justice Department’s civil-rights division.
“We’re looking it up,” she said.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
