They keep saying, “all he did was speak words, he didn’t pull the trigger.” And citing freedom of speech. What about yelling fire in a crowded theater? Or bomb in an airport terminal? They are just words.
Defamation. In this case in the form of slander, is not protected speech.
End of story.
They would like to see the line on libel and slander blurried im sure. There has been an awful lot of falsehoods vocalized from prominient politicians in recent years, it is "in vogue" in certain circles it seems... and im sure at least some of it would qualify as defamation.