> I hate that people are doing all these weird gymnastics to reconcile being a champion of free speech and firing people that criticize you.

You're just seeing the psychic ripples of all the Elon fanboys and pseudo-libertarian technofascists wrestling with the cognitive dissonance of their savior turning out to be a pretty vanilla corporate capitalist.

After all the chest-thumping and general toxicity I find their discomfort endlessly amusing.