Republican
senator Jeff Flake: Trump's attacks on media reminiscent of Stalin
In speech
to Senate, Flake said president’s use of terms ‘fake news’ and ‘enemy of the
people’ should be source of shame for Republicans
David Smith
in Washington and agencies
@smithinamerica
Wed 17 Jan
2018 20.48 GMT First published on Wed 17 Jan 2018 19.46 GMT
Donald
Trump’s use of the terms “fake news” and “enemy of the people” is shameful and
reminiscent of words used by Joseph Stalin to describe his enemies, Republican
senator Jeff Flake said Wednesday.
In a speech
on the Senate floor, Flake, of Arizona, called Trump’s repeated attacks on the
media “repulsive” and said Trump “has it precisely backward”. Despotism is the
enemy of the people, while a free press is the despot’s enemy and a guardian of
democracy, Flake said.
Flake, a
frequent Trump critic who is retiring this year, said that when Trump calls
news stories he doesn’t like “fake news,” he “should be the figure of
suspicion, not the press”.
Noting that
Trump said he would give out awards for “the most corrupt and dishonest” media,
Flake said “it beggars belief that an American president would engage in such a
spectacle”.
Trump had
said he would announce the mock awards on Wednesday. It did not appear on his official
schedule but White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at the
daily briefing: “It’ll be something later today. I know you’re all waiting to
see if you’re big winners, I’m sure.”
Flake has
said he is not comparing Trump to Stalin, who was responsible for the deaths of
millions. But he said Trump’s use of a term favored by the Soviet dictator –
“enemy of the people” – is chilling.
Flake said:
“This alone should be a source of great shame for us in this body, especially
for those of us in the president’s party.”
Arizona’s
other Republican senator, John McCain, also decried Trump’s use of the term
“fake news”. He said Trump was encouraging autocrats around the world “to
silence reporters, undermine political opponents, stave off media scrutiny and
mislead citizens”.
In an
opinion column in the Washington Post, McCain said Trump’s attempts to
undermine the free press “make it more difficult to hold repressive governments
accountable”. Constant cries of “fake news” undercut legitimate reporting and
“strip activists of one of their most powerful tools of dissent”, McCain wrote.
The destructive effect of this kind of
behavior on our democracy cannot be overstated
Jeff Flake
Flake said
Trump’s first year in office “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.”
Trump’s use
of the term “fake news” has encouraged authoritarian leaders around the world,
who now routinely dismiss criticism as “fake news”, Flake and McCain said,
citing comments by Syrian president Bashar Assad, Philippines president Rodrigo
Duterte and Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, among others.
Flake also
denounced Trump’s frequent claim that investigations into Russia’s interference
in the 2016 election are a “hoax” and said ignoring or denying the truth about
Russia’s actions leaves the US vulnerable to future attacks.
“We know
that the attacks orchestrated by the Russian government during the election
were real and constitute a grave threat to both American sovereignty and to our
national security,” Flake said, yet Trump has done little or nothing to
investigate the Russians or defend America against future attacks.
A
president, such as Trump, who cannot take criticism, “who must constantly
deflect and distort and distract – who must find someone else to blame – is
charting a very dangerous path,” Flake said. “And a Congress that fails to act
as a check on the president adds to the danger.”
The White
House responded with a bitter attack of its own. Sanders drew attention to
Flake’s recent trip to Cuba, where press freedom has long been curbed and
journalists harassed or detained by the communist government.
“I found it
quite interesting that he is coming out to attack this president considering
he’s one that was recently defending an actually oppressive regime,” the press
secretary said. “He went to Cuba a few weeks ago and served as a mouthpiece for
the oppressive Cuban government.”
Flake, who
has long advocated improved relations with Cuba, met high-ranking officials
there earlier this month. At the time, he said classified US briefings gave him
no reason to doubt Havana’s denial that it was behind a mystery illness that
struck American diplomats.
Sanders
called Flake’s speech “unforunate”. “He’s not criticising the president because
he’s against oppression,” she said. “He’s criticising the president because he
has terrible poll numbers and he is, I think, looking for some attention.”
Speaking a
day after the presidential physician took questions about Trump’s health during
an unprecedented hour-long briefing, Sanders insisted: “Certainly I think our
position here at the White House is that we welcome access to the media every
day. I’m standing right here taking questions. The president does so regularly
and to act as if we’re anything but open to that back and forth exchange is
utterly ridiculous.”
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