“We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have freedom of speech so we can say very controversial things” is saying by American author, activist, physician and politician Ron Paul that has been printed on many images. Paul said this several times, with slight variations. “We don’t have freedom of speech” is often “We don’t have the first amendment.”
     
Ron Paul said this at the Republican presidential debate on May 5, 2011. “Ron Paul: ‘We have the first amendment not so we can talk about the weather but so that we can say controversial things.’ #liberty #SCDebate” was posted on Twitter by Julie Borowski on May 5, 2011. “‘We don’t have the 1st Amendment so we can talk about the weather. We have it so that we can talk about very controversial things.’ Ron Paul” was posted on Twitter by Brannon McAllister on May 5, 2011. “Ron Paul: ‘We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather’. Good stuff. As long as he sticks with the Bill of Rights, he’s great” was posted on Twitter by Desmond Hume on May 5, 2011. “We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have freedom of speech so we can say very controversial things” was posted on Twitter by Tyler on December 8, 2011.
       
“The whole reason for the 1st Amendment was to ensure that everyone was free to say controversial things, and things that the establishment may not approve of. The 1st Amendment is not there so that we’re only free to talk about things like the weather” was posted on Facebook by Ron Paul on August 16, 2017. “The very 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the freedom of speech. It’s not there for us to be free to talk about the weather. It’s there as an acknowledgment of our natural ability to think, be critical and question” was posted on Facebook by Ron Paul on November 1, 2017. “We Don’t Have Freedom of Speech Merely To Talk About The Weather” was posted on Twitter by Ron Paul on January 12, 2011.
   
     
Wikipedia: Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas’s 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas’s 14th congressional district from 1997 to 2013. On three occasions, he sought the presidency of the United States: as the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988 and as a candidate for the Republican Party in 2008 and 2012.
     
Twitter
Ryan Miner
@RyanRMiner
HAHA… Ron Paul: We don’t have a First Amendment to talk about the weather. #scdebate
10:11 PM · May 5, 2011
   
Twitter
Matt Welch
@MattWelch
“We don’t have the First Amendment so we can talk about the weather.”—Ron Paul, saying what most politicians should, but don’t, say.
10:11 PM · May 5, 2011
   
Twitter
Kate Froehlich
@katefroehlich46
“We don’t have the First Amendment so we can talk about the weather” Ron Paul
10:11 PM · May 5, 2011
   
Twitter
Julie Borowski
@JulieBorowski
Ron Paul: “We have the first amendment not so we can talk about the weather but so that we can say controversial things.” #liberty #SCDebate
10:11 PM · May 5, 2011
   
Twitter
Brannon McAllister
@brannonmc
“We don’t have the 1st Amendment so we can talk about the weather. We have it so that we can talk about very controversial things.” Ron Paul
10:11 PM · May 5, 2011
   
Twitter
Andrea Katherine
@AndreaKatSTL
#SCDebate @RonPaul: We don’t have the 1st Amendment to talk about the weather, we have it to say controversial things. | Amen!!
10:12 PM · May 5, 2011
 
Twitter
Desmond Hume
@desmond_hume815
Ron Paul: “We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather”. Good stuff. As long as he sticks with the Bill of Rights, he’s great
10:13 PM · May 5, 2011
   
Twitter
₿ased male™ 🇺🇸 for KARI LAKE #AZGOV
@GetMeRoss
“We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather.” -Ron Paul
2:22 PM · May 7, 2011
       
10 May 2011, Brattleboro (VT) Reformer, “The three sides of democracy” by Meg Mott, pg. ?:
At a GOP debate last Thursday (May 5—ed.), Ron Paul defended his position that drugs should be decriminalized. “We don’t have the first amendment so that we can talk about the weather,” explained the Congressman before a South Carolina audience. “You have the right to do things that are very controversial.” In Paul’s reading of the Bill of Rights, citizens are empowered to make their own decisions. Government should not tell its citizens what they can or cannot consume.
 
Twitter
Tyler
@Tylerhamrick
“We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have freedom of speech so we can say very controversial things.”
12:41 AM · Dec 8, 2011
   
Twitter
carlos danger
@lettuce_fetish
We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have freedom of speech so we can say very controversial things.
6:43 PM · Dec 8, 2011
     
Twitter
Dianne Reum
@LibertyIsALady
We don’t have a 1st Amendment so we can talk about the weather. We have the 1st Amendment so we can say very controversial things. ~Ron Paul
3:49 AM · Dec 14, 2011
 
Twitter
j.
@_illinigirl
We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have the 1st Amendment so that we can say very controversial things.- #RonPaul
8:29 AM · Jan 26, 2012
   
Twitter
Jeremy Gill
@JeremyMGill
“We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have the First Amendment so we can say very controversial things.”-Ron Paul
1:21 PM · Apr 25, 2012
   
Twitter
Chris Sharp
@ehseacs
“We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have the First Amendment so we can say very controversial things.”
3:12 PM · Apr 25, 2012
     
2 December 2015, University Wire (Carlsbad, CA), “Threat to free speech proves alarming” by Jesse Horowitz:
My first concern is that this shows a com­plete misunderstanding of the First Amend­ment. Former Congressman Ron Paul has often said that we don’t have freedom of speech so that we can talk about the weather, we have it so that we can talk about controversial things.
 
Facebook 
Ron Paul
August 16, 2017 at 4:00 PM ·
“Hate Speech” is a Marxist creation to shut down the free speech of one’s opponents.
 
“Hate Speech” is subjective.
 
The whole reason for the 1st Amendment was to ensure that everyone was free to say controversial things, and things that the establishment may not approve of.
 
The 1st Amendment is not there so that we’re only free to talk about things like the weather.
 
Tyranny seeks to shutdown the freedom to speak.
 
America’s Founders wanted to ensure that the mental prisons that Cultural Marxists are trying to erect with so-called “political correctness,” never take root in this country.
 
Facebook
Ron Paul
November 1, 2017 at 10:11 AM ·
The very 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the freedom of speech.
 
It’s not there for us to be free to talk about the weather. It’s there as an acknowledgment of our natural ability to think, be critical and question.
 
It’s the nature of power to take away freedom. Thus, it’s of paramount importance to always have the freedom to be critical of power in order to preserve liberty.
 
Today, the walls are closing in. Political-correctness and the thought police are every… See more
 
Reddit—Libertarianmeme
Posted by u/BadTRAFFIC May 29, 2018
“We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have the first amendment so we can say very controversial things.” - Ron Paul
     
Facebook
Ron Paul
January 12, 2021 at 3:22 PM ·
Communication Is Fundamental To Being Human…We Don’t Have Freedom of Speech Merely To Talk About The Weather
   
Twitter
Ron Paul
@RonPaul
Communication Is Fundamental To Being Human
We Don’t Have Freedom of Speech Merely To Talk About The Weather
Sign-up for our email newsletter here: http://ronpaulinstitute.org/subscribe
3:24 PM · Jan 12, 2021
 
Twitter
Rothmus 🏴
@Rothmus
(“‘We don’t have freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have the first amendment so we can say very controversial things.’ - Ron Paul” is shown on an image.—ed.)
11:31 AM · Dec 6, 2022