That's how dictators get started

[newarkcatholicfan]

Critics on both sides of the aisle are blasting President Trump’s assertion that the media is “the enemy of the American people” — and comparing his escalated attack on the press to that of a dictator.

 

“That’s how dictators get started,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said in an interview that aired on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

 

 

‘That’s how dictators get started’: McCain, critics blast Trump’s view of the media as ‘the enemy’

[Getslow]

I'd be lying if I said the phrase "enemy of the people" didn't send a small shiver up my spine, but I think there's a lot of hyperbole here. The president isn't becoming a dictator anytime soon and subscriptions to the "failing New York Times" and a lot of other papers have gone through the roof since he took office. He can attack the press from his podium all he wants; until he kicks them out of the West Wing, I'm not seeing anything dictatorial here.

[Mitch Rapp]

I'd be lying if I said the phrase "enemy of the people" didn't send a small shiver up my spine, but I think there's a lot of hyperbole here. The president isn't becoming a dictator anytime soon and subscriptions to the "failing New York Times" and a lot of other papers have gone through the roof since he took office. He can attack the press from his podium all he wants; until he kicks them out of the West Wing, I'm not seeing anything dictatorial here.

There is nothing that legally requires Trump to take any questions from the media. The media has the right to ask all the questions that they want and complain if Trump does not answer those questions, but refusing to hold press conferences or answer media questions would not be "dictatorial."

 

McCain is a loathsome character who should have resigned in disgrace when he decided to join four other crooked public servants to form the "Keating Five." McCain graduated near the bottom of his class and I will never understand why educated people put any stock in anything the man has to say. He is a corrupt to the core politician and nothing more.

[Getslow]

There is nothing that legally requires Trump to take any questions from the media. The media has the right to ask all the questions that they want and complain if Trump does not answer those questions, but refusing to hold press conferences or answer media questions would not be "dictatorial."

 

McCain is a loathsome character who should have resigned in disgrace when he decided to join four other crooked public servants to form the "Keating Five." McCain graduated near the bottom of his class and I will never understand why educated people put any stock in anything the man has to say. He is a corrupt to the core politician and nothing more.

 

I'm not worried about the press conferences. I do want the media close to the halls of power and a daily briefing and some question and answer from a representative in the press room will suffice. I don't think it's too much to ask that the leader of the free world be available to reporters from time to time but whatever.

 

As for McCain... so be it. I'm not from Arizona and I didn't vote for him in 2008 (though I was in the crowd in Dayton when he introduced Gov. Palin as his running mate), so he's never held any public office on my account.

[Mitch Rapp]

I'm not worried about the press conferences. I do want the media close to the halls of power and a daily briefing and some question and answer from a representative in the press room will suffice. I don't think it's too much to ask that the leader of the free world be available to reporters from time to time but whatever.

 

As for McCain... so be it. I'm not from Arizona and I didn't vote for him in 2008 (though I was in the crowd in Dayton when he introduced Gov. Palin as his running mate), so he's never held any public office on my account.

I also want the president to make himself available for and answer questions from the media. However, it is within Trump's rights to choose whose questions get answered, if he decided to answer any at all. Media coverage during the primaries were a key factor in Trump winning the Republican nomination, but IMO, he has been treated very unfairly by the media since he became the nominee.

 

Trump is not handling the media the way that I would, but I certainly do not blame him for pushing back against what has been very adversarial, biased, and dishonest media coverage. I would have used a carrot and a stick to deal with the media. Trump prefers the stick only approach.

[Bengal Maniac]

McCain is way over the top here. But I do love it when politicians "tell it like it is" or is i "call it like they see it" or is it "saying what is on everyone's mind"?

 

You might get elected President that way.

[ggclfan]

McCain is way over the top here. But I do love it when politicians "tell it like it is" or is i "call it like they see it" or is it "saying what is on everyone's mind"?

 

You might get elected President that way.

 

Not if you are McCain...he had his chance and failed miserably...

[ggclfan]

BTW, it is dangerous when a Senator implies that the President is even a little bit heading the US towards dictatorship. For one to do so for a President from his own party is dangerous and downright stupid. As I posted in another thread, McCain is more about being in the Washington establishment that is threatened by Trump than he is committed to being a Republican. Same can be said for Graham.

[jericho]

I want the media too, too tell the truth and stop making something out of nothing and lying to fit their agenda.

[All Tell]

I find it a bit hilarious that McCain is now a cheerleader for the press. In his primary in 2008 he was their darling but they quickly turned on him when he was running against Obama.

[Bengal Maniac]

Not if you are McCain...he had his chance and failed miserably...

 

 

Maybe he wasn't as forthright then.:idunno:

[FarBeyondDriven]

If McCain had campaigned in his bid for President with the same zeal that he goes after Trump, he might have actually won the election in 2008.