At the onset of the Iraq War France did not with to join the coalition to fight Hussein. 9/11 was still fresh in people's minds. The emotional response was to push back on things labeled French, and that extended to calling french fries freedom fries. Forum usage of Freedom X dates to that period.
The more mundane answer is that the meme initially only applied to people. They were either Freedom Fighters or Horrible People. Eventually Fighters and People were replaced by what ever noun one wanted to judge
But shouldn't a Freedom Fighter be someone who fights
against freedom?
A firefighter isn't someone who fights
for fire.
