Republican senator says Trump enabling other dictators, compares him to StalinRepublican Senator Jeff Flake condemned U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday for popularizing the “fake news” message and even compared him to the infamous Russian leader, Josef Stalin.
“2017 was a year which saw the truth – objective, empirical, evidence-based truth – more battered and abused than any other in the history of our country, at the hands of the most powerful figure in our government,” Flake said while speaking on the Senate floor.
The speech comes ahead of Trump’s alleged “fake news awards,” which he promised to hand out Wednesday to the “most corrupt and biased of the mainstream media.”
In February, Trump called the media the “enemy of the American people.” Flake addressed this in his speech.
“It is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies,” he said.
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Flake also said Trump’s demeaning words on the press are a “danger to democracy” and inspires dictatorships around the world.
“Not only has the past year seen an American president borrow despotic language to refer to the free press, but it seems he has in turn inspired dictators and authoritarians with his own language. This is reprehensible,” he said.
He gave examples of the Philippines’ President, Rodrigo Duterte, and Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, who have also brushed off media reports by calling the press “fake news.”
The White House responded to Flake’s speech on Wednesday, saying the senator is “looking for attention.”
“He’s not criticising the president because he’s against oppression, he’s criticising the president because he has low poll numbers,” he said.
In response to Trump’s attack on the press, Flake called on his colleagues to take a stand.
“2018 must be the year in which the truth takes a stand against power that would weaken it. In this effort, the choice is quite simple. And in this effort, the truth needs as many allies as possible,” he said.
“It is the people’s right to criticize their government. And it is our job to take it,” he said.
Republican Senator John McCain also wrote a Washington Post op-ed on Tuesday, criticizing Trump’s attack on the media.
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“Unfortunately, the Trump administration’s attitude toward such behavior has been inconsistent at best and hypocritical at worst,” he said.
“While administration officials often condemn violence against reporters abroad, Trump continues his unrelenting attacks on the integrity of American journalists and news outlets. This has provided cover for repressive regimes to follow suit.”
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