If there’s one thing we know for sure when it comes to President Trump, it’s that he is not a fan of the media.
In fact, he’s quite adversarial when it comes to press. Through his Twitter account @realDonaldTrump, the President of the United States has been taking aim at specific media outlets and encouraging his followers to call out “fake news”.
But do his constant accusations of “fake news” and his dressing down of the media mean a lot more than we think?Are they more than something that we can simply laugh off?
In a recent tweet, outspoken US Senator Bernie Sanders compared Trump's interactions with the media to totalitarianism.
He wrote: "In Trump's view people should ignore all the news except what comes directly from him. That is what totalitarianism is all about."
It's a sentiment echoed by former Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
Mamamia Out Loud on why it’s time to stop shouting and start trying to understand the people we don’t agree with.
On a episode of NBC's Meet the Press, set to air on Sunday night, McCain said that attacks on the press are "how dictators get started."
“I hate the press. I hate you especially," McCain told NBC's Chuck Todd.
"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. That's how dictators get started.”
McCain's comments were in response to a recent tweet from POTUS, declaring that the media is the “enemy of the American People.”
He wrote: "The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!"
Within the last 24 hours, President Trump has tweeted again, telling people not to believe the mainstream media.
"Don't believe the main stream (fake news) media.The White House is running VERY WELL. I inherited a MESS and am in the process of fixing it," he tweeted.
This is not the first time President Trump has taken aim at the media on Twitter. Here are just a few of Trump's tweets from the month of February:
According to McCain, this is exactly how dictators begin their reign of terror.
"They get started by suppressing free press,” he said.
"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.”
Bras, Births and A Kinder, Post-Trump World on Mamamia Outloud.
McCain withdrew his support of Trump in October after a tape was released in which Trump bragged about groping women. He is now calling for an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the presidential campaign.
Top Comments
The article was about the media. The facts are that the US media is owned by just six corporations. It has become close to a monopoly.
http://www.businessinsider....
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From the article. "Back in 1983, approximately 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the United States. Today, ownership of the news media has been concentrated in the hands of just six incredibly powerful media corporations. These corporate behemoths control most of what we watch, hear and read every single day. "
This is not good for democracy. There is room for more media players with diverse views. I for one do not believe what the media tells us. All you have to do is look at the rubbish that comes out of the ABC for starters.
Donald Trump is the biggest threat to national security that the US has ever had - why, because he is a to threat to democracy & freedom of speech from inside the Whitehouse.
He has already proven that he a persistent liar and has tried to discredit both the judiciary and the press if they don't do what he wants.
The USA has become an undemocratic, riot torn nation of idiots led by a dishonest media who through false news and dishonest reporting are hell bent and determined to undermine and destroy the duly elected President of the United States of America and bring chaos to the world though anarchy. And now the Spooks are joining the cause. Now try to tell me how I am wrong.