GOP SENATOR DENOUNCES TRUMP ATTACKS

President Donald Trump’s use of the terms “fake news” and “enemy of the people” is “shameful” and reminiscent of words infamously used by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to describe his enemies, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said Wednesday.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Flake 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, 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.”

Flake has said he is not comparing Trump to Stalin, who was responsible for the deaths of millions, but said Trump’s use of a term favoured by Stalin, “enemy of the people,” is chilling.