One of the advantages of being alive for a long time (and studying history) is observing politicians change their rhetoric to suit their short term objectives.
I grew up in the 1950s, the McCarthy era. Joe McCarthy, a loudmouthed, rabble-rousing Republican Senator from Wisconsin rose to fame by loudly proclaiming that the State Department and other branches of the administrative state were infested with Russian-influenced Communist sympathizers. Right-wing Republicans took him seriously. Democrats joked that McCarthyites were finding Commies under every bed.
Social conservatives controlled the media: print, movies and TV. Nudity on-screen was verboten. Heck, Laura and Rob in the Dick Van Dyke show and Desi and Lucy in I Love Lucy slept in twin beds.
Birth control, other than abstinence from engaging in sex, was actually illegal.
Liberals advocated for more freedom. The American Civil Liberties Union went to court to increase...civil liberties. The First Amendment freedom of speech and freedom of assembly right for Nazis to march in a Jewish neighborhood in Skokie, Illinois was a case won by the ACLU.
The Free Speech Movement in Berkeley was a massive months-long protest against the Vietnam War demanding an end to restrictions on free speech in protest of the war and other issues.
The Cold War and the origins of the Vietnam War were culturally conservative...the existential struggle of the Capitalistic West against Communism. The Clinton wars in the 90s in the former Yugoslavia were essentially wag-the-dog wars to distract people from paying as much attention to the Clinton sex scandals.But they made war more of a bi-partisan endeavor. The Bush Sr., Bush Jr. and Obama wars in the Middle East were all allowed to happen with support from both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats no longer welcomed anti-war activists.On war, the parties are now unified.
In the 50s and 60s social conservatives controlled the media and were the biggest influence on culture. Liberals were the advocates for free speech.
During the Trump years, Democrats, grasping at straws to counter Trump's effective brand of populism, seized on accusing him of being in bed with the Russians. McCarthyism with party roles reversed. Now Republicans could joke that Democrats were finding a Russian under every bed.
Now that we have a de facto war in Ukraine against Russia that started during the Democratic Biden presidency, the primary anti-war voices are mostly Republican.
In the vacuum of cultural ideals resulting from revulsion to the Vietnam War, the left saw an opportunity and took it. They, over a period of years, gained near complete control of academia and the media. Now that they are in control of culture, they have become the opponents of free speech. Conservatives have become free speech champions.
Only libertarians and classical liberals have been consistently free speech during both eras. We will continue.