Lately this is getting absurd. I believe this quote is still true, but the amount of 'I don't like what is being said so therefore you should be silenced' is going too far. I don't agree with what this guy said (or even know who he is aside from what was said in the article), but I'm alarmed that Microsoft would go after Gab for a user on Gab's platform.
And you don't have to read Hackernews for long to see how terminally fucked and anti-freedom the U.S. justice system is. Things like plea bargaining, money bail, and systemic racism in law enforcement and criminal proceedings make U.S. "freedom" illusory unless you're white and wealthy.
As for democracy, it's well known that votes in Congress can be easily bought in the US, far more easily than in Germany's parliament.
Even absent this, the point is that Germany is, in practice, freer than the USA despite having a less absolute stance on free speech.
Germany is not freer. They do not have Freedom of speech close in terms to the US. One easy example is Section 185 of Germany's criminal code which you can be punished for insults. Section 90 is also interesting and I bet people would dislike that one if we had that currently in the US. If you see those as freeer by all means have it in Germany. I'll stick with the 1st amendment.