Republican Senator John McCain responded to President Donald Trump’s tweet that the press is the “enemy of the American People” on NBC’s “Meet the Press.
President Donald Trump’s attacks on the press echo the language of dictators, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said,” warning the nation to heed lessons of history.
“I hate the press. I hate you especially. "But the fact is we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital. If you want to preserve – I'm very serious now – if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time . . . McCain told Chuck Todd
“They get started by suppressing free press. In other words, a consolidation of power 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.”
McCain may be being careful with his language, but nevertheless he’s wrong. Trump is trying to be a dictator. That’s what it is to be a Chief Executive Officers (CEO) or Corporate President, centralizing control through autocratic authority. Trump has known no other way. They rule by controlling oversight within a strict hierarchical structure. There is no democracy in the workplace. CEOs do control press releases and do control what subordinates can or cannot say to the media. He knows he cannot do it through a directive, but he can intimidate the press and those who do not support him.
From the New York Times:
“. . . the muzzling starts, not with a boot on your neck, but with the fear of one that runs so deep that you muzzle yourself.
“Maybe it’s the story you decide against doing because it’s liable to provoke a press-bullying president to put the power of his office behind his attempt to destroy your reputation by falsely calling your journalism “fake.”
“Maybe it’s the line you hold back from your script or your article because it could trigger a federal leak investigation into you and your sources (so, yeah, jail).
“Or, maybe it’s the commentary you spike because you’re a publicly supported news channel and you worry it will cost your station its federal financing.
“In that last case, your fear would be existential — a matter of your very survival — and your motivation to self-censor could prove overwhelming.
House Representative Lamar Smith, Republican from Texas described what he believes was the unfair way the media was covering Trump. Lamar suggested it’s “better to get your news from the President. In fact, it might be the only way to get the unvarnished truth.” In other words, the truth will only come from the President Trump.
