I didn't say it was clever, just that it was obvious. This was an opportunity for a foreign government (Saudis) to buy media/ narrative control over US media. A rightwing/ fascist government is easier for them to work on, so they do things that support its creation.
Which is exactly the same plan as last time. Then, the ultra-rich were afraid of communism so they propped up nationalism. Now though, they are after democracy as such.
What's the downside for them? They either win big or things stay roughly the same and they might pay some extra tax but not much. No one (of them) is losing their bulk of their wealth or their freedom. Might as well roll the dice.
There won't be any massive sanctions if ~85% of the world's governments on your side. That's why they're propping up it in every country.
However, they'll inadvertently also reignite territorial disputes between countries. The Russo-Ukrainian war is also based on the fact, that in the past, borders were different, and some countries were "greater" at that time.
People criticizing you does not violate your free speech. Getting banned from a website does not violate your free speech. Nobody is arresting you.
What right wingers mean by free speech is they want the law to protect people using racial slurs and discrimination above the rights of the people they hate to live equitably within society.
They want to go back to the 1950s, exactly the way they keep saying.