McCain criticizes Trump for calling media 'the enemy': 'That's how dictators start'

[Independent voter]

More hyperbole but from a Republican this time. I call it hyperbole because every president thinks the press has screwed them over, Obama, Bush, McCain himself when he ran for president, thinking the press is horrible is not solely a Trump thing. Unlike those that I mentioned, Trump isn't a politician he says anything that pops into his head and I'm sure he's mad at the press, all presidents have been mad at the press.









http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...219-story.html

Sen. John McCain spoke out Saturday 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 Sunday, was "how dictators get started."


Trump calls the news media 'the enemy of the American People'
"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.

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Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @Nytimes, @NBCNews, @abc, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
2:48 PM - 17 Feb 2017
45,100 45,100 Retweets 140,290 140,290 likes
In it, Trump tagged the New York Times, CNN and broadcast news networks NBC, ABC and CBS.

In the backlash to the tweet, #NotTheEnemy began trending, with people sharing stories about journalists who had dedicated their lives to - and, in some instances, paid the ultimate price for - reporting the news.

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."

These days, it is difficult not to notice McCain, whose dissenting voice can be heard - and is often amplified - criticizing Trump. In the four weeks since Trump's inauguration, McCain has made headlines rebutting White House press secretary Sean Spicer and ripping Trump's worldview in a speech in Munich without ever mentioning the president's name.

Even before the inauguration, McCain was emerging as one of the few Republicans who was not afraid to criticize Trump, blasting the president-elect's reported consideration of reinstating waterboarding as an interrogation technique.

"I don't give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do or anybody else wants to do. We will not waterboard. We will not torture," McCain said to applause at a November summit, emphasizing certain words with a point of his finger. "My God, what does it say about America if we're going to inflict torture on people?"

McCain's repeated criticisms of Trump have triggered the president's wrath, most recently after McCain questioned the success of a deadly military raid in Yemen.

This week, McCain appears on the cover of the Feb. 20 issue of New York magazine, where he candidly discusses operating in the Trump administration in a nearly 5,000-word profile by Gabriel Sherman, the magazine's national affairs editor.

In one particularly strongly worded exchange, McCain does not hold back on how he views the severity of alleged Russian interference in the American presidential election.

"The severity of this issue, the gravity of it, is so consequential because if you succeed in corrupting an election, then you've destroyed the foundation of democracy," McCain told Sherman. "So I view it with the utmost seriousness. I view it more seriously than a physical attack. I view it more seriously than Orlando or San Bernardino. As tragic as that was, the far-reaching consequences of an election hack are certainly far in excess of a single terrorist attack."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said later, would not stop "until the cost of going forward is too high." (As for why his Republican colleagues were not more vocal about demanding investigations of Trump's Russian connections, McCain told Sherman pithily: "I frankly don't know. It's not a chapter of 'Profiles in Courage.'")

In the wide-ranging profile, which covers everything from Supreme Court justice nominee Neil Gorsuch to Trump's poll numbers, McCain also defends the news media in relation to leaks that have come from the Trump administration.

"In democracies, information should be provided to the American people," McCain told Sherman. "How else are the American people going to be informed?"

The dramatic headline on the cover of the magazine - "McCain vs. Trump: Just how far will the senator go?" - is in many ways an oversimplification of their relationship, a facile understanding McCain himself pushes against throughout Sherman's piece. At one point, McCain dismisses the idea that he could be swayed by Democrats seeking to protest Trump's agenda.

"These are the same Democrats that shredded me in 2008," McCain told Sherman. "I get along with the Democrats, but please, I'm not their hero. They're trying to use us. We will work with them, but have no doubt, their agenda is not our agenda."

And McCain's criticisms of Trump could hurt Democrats in other ways, The Post's Dave Weigel notes in his analysis of the latest crop of McCain-centered headlines:

- - -

Pushed by their party's base, Senate Democrats have been moved from generally supporting Trump nominees to mostly opposing them. . . . But right now, progressives view the Democratic Party warily. They can ill afford a story line in which Republicans such as McCain (or Evan McMullin, or Joe Scarborough) are the real leaders of the opposition.

- - -

Still, McCain told Sherman he was not concerned about Trump's administration becoming an "authoritarian regime."

"I just don't think it's possible in our society," he said in the profile. "There's too many checks and balances. The danger is not Trump perverting our Constitution or taking too much power; the danger is the polarization of America."

[Ghostpanther]

McCain should retire. He is has outlived his usefulness as a Senator in my opinion. At this point, I would put him in the same category as Harry Reid. In no way is Trump suggesting the media should be silent. He is wanting them to be more responsible in their reporting. The same thing Thomas Jefferson and Lincoln wanted. :P

[primalmatter]

Its also how a ethics committee starts but no media station reports on that

[Shadowferal]

At this point McCain can't retire. He's one of the few voices of reason willing to stand up to Trump and challenge him publicly and showing everyone that not everyone in the GOP is nutso.

[zorkuus]

In no way is Trump suggesting the media should be silent. He is wanting them to be more responsible in their reporting

Yeah, right...

The only thing he wants is yes men who won't call out his bs.

[Ghostpanther]

Yeah, right...

The only thing he wants is yes men who won't call out his bs.

So you are suggesting Thomas Jefferson wanted the same thing when he said there is very little that can be taken as the truth from the newspapers? I hope Trump is remembered like Jefferson was.

[Deleted]

I hope trump wont be remembered as the president who fucked up democracy.

[Skroe]

More hyperbole but from a Republican this time. I call it hyperbole because every president thinks the press has screwed them over, Obama, Bush, McCain himself when he ran for president, thinking the press is horrible is not solely a Trump thing. Unlike those that I mentioned, Trump isn't a politician he says anything that pops into his head and I'm sure he's mad at the press, all presidents have been mad at the press.

Your normalizing Trump is getting extremely obnoxious and incredibly dishonest.

Many Presidents have had difficult relationships with the Press. That's not unusual.

What is unusual is

(1) Trump's pathological lying problem about issues big and small. What happens when he lies in a time of Crisis? Don't expect "Rally Around the President" to work.

(2) Presidents do not call the Media an "Enemy of the American People". That's an absurd statement.

You need to cut it out Hubcap. You're smarter than this.

[zorkuus]

So you are suggesting Thomas Jefferson wanted the same thing when he said there is very little that can be taken as the truth from the newspapers? I hope Trump is remembered like Jefferson was.

I don't think Jefferson cried "fake news!" every 5 seconds like a child.

[Deleted]

The odd thing is that he'd likely had gotten actual respect if he stated that the press was unfairly targeting/representing him and notions akin to that and that they needed to get their shit straight. Instead he went with them just being wholesale fake and an enemy of the american people.

[Shadowferal]

*shrugs*
Trump fires anyone questioning/criticizing him...he wants "yes-men" and ass-kissers for his admin.

[Gestopft]

McCain should retire. He is has outlived his usefulness as a Senator in my opinion. At this point, I would put him in the same category as Harry Reid. In no way is Trump suggesting the media should be silent. He is wanting them to be more responsible in their reporting. The same thing Thomas Jefferson and Lincoln wanted. :P

Oh, come on. Every president gets mad at the press, but other presidents haven't called the press "the enemy of the American people," and other presidents didn't routinely proclaim it as "dishonest" "liars" "fake news" etc.

[Morrigenn]

In no way is Trump suggesting the media should be silent. He is wanting them to be more responsible in their reporting. The same thing Thomas Jefferson and Lincoln wanted. :P

This is either fantasy or bullshit. The media Trump wants is a media that falls down and wets itself in adulation for whatever he's doing/saying/tweeting at the moment (even if those words/actions/tweets are diametrically opposed to whatever he did/said/tweeted fifteen minutes previous). Only when "the media" is doing precisely that will Trump be happy with the media.

Ain't gonna happen. His bullshit will continue to be called out (and rightly so--ALL politician's bullshit should be called out, regardless of party). Oh and don't hand me that crap line about "he's not a politician" because he IS now a politician by virtue of entering the process and getting to where he is today. So yeah, now he's in the kitchen and finding the heat isn't so nice... tough shit.

First rule of life: Be careful what you wish for--you just might get it.

[Felya]

McCain should retire. He is has outlived his usefulness as a Senator in my opinion. At this point, I would put him in the same category as Harry Reid. In no way is Trump suggesting the media should be silent. He is wanting them to be more responsible in their reporting. The same thing Thomas Jefferson and Lincoln wanted. :P

Why did you tell me during elections that Trump was not even a good choice, but are now tossing republicans you claimed were a good choice under the bus and favorably comparing Trump to Lincoln and Jefferson? I've asked before... what changed?

Edit: It's honesty the most frustrating thing I read on this forum. I've defended you numerous times, as not just another blind Trump follower, because I believed you. I avoid insults, but will take an infraction if it comes... you suck... you turned me into a liar... you Flynned me...

[Shadowferal]

This is either fantasy or bullshit. The media Trump wants is a media that falls down and wets itself in adulation for whatever he's doing/saying/tweeting at the moment (even if those words/actions/tweets are diametrically opposed to whatever he did/said/tweeted fifteen minutes previous). Only when "the media" is doing precisely that will Trump be happy with the media.

His little press conference last Friday was primarily just that; one big rambling want/whine that said "I won, so how come you (the media) don't like me?"

It was disgraceful and embarrassing!

[Teebone]

I honestly hate McCain. But he's is completely on point this time.

As for Kim Jong Donnie...

[Barnabas]

More hyperbole but from a Republican this time. I call it hyperbole because every president thinks the press has screwed them over, Obama, Bush, McCain himself when he ran for president, thinking the press is horrible is not solely a Trump thing. Unlike those that I mentioned, Trump isn't a politician he says anything that pops into his head and I'm sure he's mad at the press, all presidents have been mad at the press.









http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...219-story.html

Sen. John McCain spoke out Saturday 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 Sunday, was "how dictators get started."


Trump calls the news media 'the enemy of the American People'
"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.

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Follow
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @Nytimes, @NBCNews, @abc, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
2:48 PM - 17 Feb 2017
45,100 45,100 Retweets 140,290 140,290 likes
In it, Trump tagged the New York Times, CNN and broadcast news networks NBC, ABC and CBS.

In the backlash to the tweet, #NotTheEnemy began trending, with people sharing stories about journalists who had dedicated their lives to - and, in some instances, paid the ultimate price for - reporting the news.

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."

These days, it is difficult not to notice McCain, whose dissenting voice can be heard - and is often amplified - criticizing Trump. In the four weeks since Trump's inauguration, McCain has made headlines rebutting White House press secretary Sean Spicer and ripping Trump's worldview in a speech in Munich without ever mentioning the president's name.

Even before the inauguration, McCain was emerging as one of the few Republicans who was not afraid to criticize Trump, blasting the president-elect's reported consideration of reinstating waterboarding as an interrogation technique.

"I don't give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do or anybody else wants to do. We will not waterboard. We will not torture," McCain said to applause at a November summit, emphasizing certain words with a point of his finger. "My God, what does it say about America if we're going to inflict torture on people?"

McCain's repeated criticisms of Trump have triggered the president's wrath, most recently after McCain questioned the success of a deadly military raid in Yemen.

This week, McCain appears on the cover of the Feb. 20 issue of New York magazine, where he candidly discusses operating in the Trump administration in a nearly 5,000-word profile by Gabriel Sherman, the magazine's national affairs editor.

In one particularly strongly worded exchange, McCain does not hold back on how he views the severity of alleged Russian interference in the American presidential election.

"The severity of this issue, the gravity of it, is so consequential because if you succeed in corrupting an election, then you've destroyed the foundation of democracy," McCain told Sherman. "So I view it with the utmost seriousness. I view it more seriously than a physical attack. I view it more seriously than Orlando or San Bernardino. As tragic as that was, the far-reaching consequences of an election hack are certainly far in excess of a single terrorist attack."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said later, would not stop "until the cost of going forward is too high." (As for why his Republican colleagues were not more vocal about demanding investigations of Trump's Russian connections, McCain told Sherman pithily: "I frankly don't know. It's not a chapter of 'Profiles in Courage.'")

In the wide-ranging profile, which covers everything from Supreme Court justice nominee Neil Gorsuch to Trump's poll numbers, McCain also defends the news media in relation to leaks that have come from the Trump administration.

"In democracies, information should be provided to the American people," McCain told Sherman. "How else are the American people going to be informed?"

The dramatic headline on the cover of the magazine - "McCain vs. Trump: Just how far will the senator go?" - is in many ways an oversimplification of their relationship, a facile understanding McCain himself pushes against throughout Sherman's piece. At one point, McCain dismisses the idea that he could be swayed by Democrats seeking to protest Trump's agenda.

"These are the same Democrats that shredded me in 2008," McCain told Sherman. "I get along with the Democrats, but please, I'm not their hero. They're trying to use us. We will work with them, but have no doubt, their agenda is not our agenda."

And McCain's criticisms of Trump could hurt Democrats in other ways, The Post's Dave Weigel notes in his analysis of the latest crop of McCain-centered headlines:

- - -

Pushed by their party's base, Senate Democrats have been moved from generally supporting Trump nominees to mostly opposing them. . . . But right now, progressives view the Democratic Party warily. They can ill afford a story line in which Republicans such as McCain (or Evan McMullin, or Joe Scarborough) are the real leaders of the opposition.

- - -

Still, McCain told Sherman he was not concerned about Trump's administration becoming an "authoritarian regime."

"I just don't think it's possible in our society," he said in the profile. "There's too many checks and balances. The danger is not Trump perverting our Constitution or taking too much power; the danger is the polarization of America."

Trumps complain is tone. The media will still be here long long long after trump is out of office. I like some of the ABC style of reporting. They just tell the news and inject little to no of their opinion in it. You get to make the decision. Many other parts of MSM are nothing but injecting opinions to shape yours or shares your already angry views. A lot of angry people are being played while their favorite news organization that panders to their hate gets rich.

[Felya]

I honestly hate McCain. But he's is completely on point this time.

As for Kim Jong Donnie...

Why do you hate McCain? The guy has a pretty damn solid career and probably would have been president in 2000, if his GOP opponent didn't use the same tact that's now defending Trump. McCain in GOP primaries of 2000, was patient 0 for the political shit show we get every election since.

[Sunseeker]

At this point McCain can't retire. He's one of the few voices of reason willing to stand up to Trump and challenge him publicly and showing everyone that not everyone in the GOP is nutso.

It's just too bad he sold out his policy stances back in 2008. I would've voted for him.

[Barnabas]

Why do you hate McCain? The guy has a pretty damn solid career and probably would have been president in 2000, if his GOP opponent didn't use the same tact that's now defending Trump. McCain in GOP primaries of 2000, was patient 0 for the political shit show we get every election since.

Mccain will never be president. He pissed off a lot of the base when he sold out during his presidential run. We saw a different man. One thing I do like about mccain is his shared disgust with tea partiers. They are very toxic. Like how they "shut down government to make a point." Sadly democrats will have their own in the next election cycles rise to power. So the same gridlock and BS will just get worse. I urge democrats to not go down that route because you will regret it for the same reasons at some point.