On the right of the political spectrum, free speech is also under attack, with environmentalists and serious ecologically-minded and Earth Science scientists being censored, so that what they say or report does not harm powerful interests and businesses like the fossil fuel industry, or orthodox religion, etc.
Science needs the freedom and liberty to search for the Truth without fear of censorship or reprisal if the Truth does not fit with the ideological, political, economic, or religious beliefs of those who have and wield Power.
Trump tried to censor America's scientists repeatedly regarding covid-19. He also tried to censor scientists studying global warming, climate change and the environment. So did George Bush and so did Canada's Harper. There is Nothing Higher than the Truth. The truth is necessary for valid science to be effective, as it is for a valid democratic debate about government, politics, public policy, culture, the economy, or anything.