McCain Criticizes Trump For Calling Media ‘The Enemy’

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Sen. John McCain spoke out yesterday in defense of the free press after President Donald Trump lashed out against the news media several times over the past week, at one point declaring it “the enemy of the American People!”

Such talk, McCain, R-Ariz., said on NBC News in an interview set to air today, was “how dictators get started.”

“In other words, a consolidation of power,” McCain told “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd from Munich. “When you look at history, the first thing that dictators do is shut down the press. And I’m not saying that President Trump is trying to be a dictator. I’m just saying we need to learn the lessons of history.”

The 80-year-old Republican senator was responding to several tweets by Trump over the past week, in which he repeatedly attacked the media as “fake news.” In one widely shared tweet Friday, Trump said the press was “not my enemy” but that of the American people.

In it, Trump tagged the New York Times, CNN and broadcast news networks NBC, ABC and CBS.

In the “Meet the Press” interview, McCain told Todd that a free press was central to a functional democracy, even if news organizations’ stories challenged those being held accountable.

“I hate the press. I hate you, especially,” he said to Todd, who laughed. “But the fact is, we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It’s vital.”

“If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and, many times, adversarial press,” McCain added. “And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That’s how dictators get started.”

(c) 2017, The Washington Post · Amy B Wang

{Matzav.com}

 


10 COMMENTS

  1. Mr. McCain you are one of those useful idiots you’re good for the media are you good for the terrorists why don’t you disappear into the dustbin of history

    • McCain is a real patriot, and a good counterbalance to Trump

      America’s allies are calmer than they would be, only because McCain is Chairman of Foreign Affairs

      iirc McCain told ‘Meet the Press’ “I hate the press”

      These comments are 100% ridiculous

  2. I have a question for you why didn’t you criticize the media when they said they’ll do anything they can to stop Trump from being president in other words they were going to report the news but rather manufacture it and they clearly expressed the willingness to use whatever means at their disposal no matter how dishonest in order to defeat him because in their opinion the ends justify the means this was their own words not mine somehow I don’t remember hearing you criticizing them

  3. This alteh kocker just doesn’t get it. It’s a good thing this bum threw the elections to Obama back in 2008. He would of been a total disaster. The media would of controlled this nut case. He wouldn’t of made a single move without consulting with his masters at the media. Pheh. It’s too bad they don’t have term limits.

  4. Btw did you think it was ok for the media to publicize what some American soldiers did to some muslims in order to enrage them against president bush I would have called it treason and accomplice to murder

  5. 2 comments on this report: 1) look at the source of this story–the washington prust–last time i looked they were “fake news” & 2) even if it’s true (unlikely), so what else is new? mccain is always criticizing trump. when is the last time you heard john maccain say something positive about trump?

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