The liberal media took Senator John McCain’s warning of a dictator Donald Trump during Sunday’s Meet the Press on NBC and ran with it as the biggest story of the day, seeming to use it as a vindication of their smears since day one. “Is that over the top? Or is there a concern,” ABC’s Jon Karl inquired to Senator Rand Paul on This Week. While on CBS’s Face the Nation, moderator John Dickerson worried that Trump supporters would take it upon themselves and violently “act” against the “enemy” press.
Karl’s statement was actually more pointed and seemed to suggest Trump’s supporters actually supported a Trump dictatorship. “What would you make of McCain's statement that we're creeping towards a situation where people are potentially supportive of dictatorship in this country? Is that over the top? Or is there a concern,” he asked the Senator from Kentucky.
First off, the question posed by Karl was factually wrong because McCain never suggested that there were people who supported a “creeping” “dictatorship” under President Trump. McCain’s statement was only directed at Trump himself. And secondly, his question obviously targeted Trump’s millions of supporters around the country because it clearly suggests there was a base of support for such an idea.
Paul wrote off McCain’s dictator comment as stemming from the deep divide Trump and he had over how to conduct foreign policy. He even took a few jabs at his colleague for being hungry for war around the globe, stating, “John McCain’s complaint is we’re either not at war somewhere, or if we're at war, we leave too soon.”
But Karl kept pressing, asking, “But just to clarify, what McCain said specifically is dictators get started by limiting freedom of the press. I imagine you agree with that.” Paul dismissed Karl’s repeated attempt to frame the president as a dictator. “I see President Trump expressing his opinion rather forceful in his own, you know, his own distinct way,” he explained, “But I see no evidence that anybody is putting forward any kind of legislation to limit the press.”
Not wanting to be outdone, Karl weaseled in one last hit on Trump before shifting the topic to the firing of Mike Flynn. “He certainly talked about changing the libel laws during the campaign,” he chided.
Later on in the program, Karl again pressed on the assertion of a dictator Trump but this time to a congressman willing to play ball. “Well, as you know, Senator McCain said that-- He warned there's this flirting with authoritarianism in the United States,” he told Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff (who was in Europe with McCain). And Karl seemed to admit that Schiff was going to give him the answer he was looking for. “I gather you don't think that is hyperbolic. You think there is a risk of that here in the United States,” he asked. The Congressman responded by smearing the president:
I do think there is a risk of that. I think John McCain is exactly right. And I think what we're confronting now is a new war of ideas. It's not communism versus capitalism, but it is authoritarianism versus democracy and representative government. And that is a threat that here in Europe they feel acutely… And in the United States, the admiration for Putin, the admiration for the architect of that has many subscribers. In part, the president admires that. So there is a risk. John McCain is exactly right…
“Quite an assessment, Congressman Schiff, thank you for joining us,” declared Karl, sounding content.
During an interview with Reince Priebus on CBS’s Face the Nation, moderator John Dickerson tried to corner the president’s Chief of Staff by suggesting that Trump’s supporters would turn violent for their president. “As a spokesman for White House here with us today, what would you say to anybody who might take license with the idea when the president says the press is the enemy and act on that declaration by the president,” he wondered.
“Well, I don't know what you mean by ‘act on.’ I mean, certainly we would never condone violence but I do think we condone critical thought,” Priebus shot back. He argued that America is putting that critical thought into the outlandish stories they’re hearing from the press.
Such outlandish stories include those cited in this blog. These assertions by the liberal networks only serve to discredit the support Trump has from millions of Americans. And it ultimately harms themselves because it is helping to prove Trump correct.
Transcripts below:
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ABC
This Week
February 19, 2017
9:12:25 AM EasternJON KARL: What would you make of McCain's statement that we're creeping towards a situation where people are potentially supportive of dictatorship in this country? Is that over the top? Or is there a concern?
RAND PAUL: I think Senator McCain's perspective is colored by his disagreements with President Trump on foreign policy. If I were to look at foreign policy, I would say John McCain's been wrong on just about everything over the last four decades. He advocated for the Iraq war, which I think destabilized the Middle East. If you looked at the map there's probably at least six different countries where John McCain has advocated for having U.S. boots on the ground. John McCain’s complaint is we’re either not at war somewhere, or if we're at war, we leave too soon. We're not there soon enough and he wants us to stay forever where ever we send troops.
So that's a foreign policy that is at odds with President Trump. And also the idea of engagement. The idea of foreign policy realism, I think, fits more neatly are President Trump. And with John McCain, the neo-conservative label of, you know, let's make the world safe for democracy and we’re going to topple every regime hasn't worked. I mean, our intervention to destabilize the Assad regime has really made the chaos worse in Syria.
And if you get rid of Assad today, I would actually worry about the 2 million Christians that are protected by Assad. So, I think it's more foreign policy debate. And Trump and McCain are on opposite sides of that debate. I tend to sympathize more with the president that we need a change. We don't need to continue to have regime change throughout the world. Nation-building. It's expensive. And we don't have enough money to rebuild our own country if we're rebuilding everyone else's countries.
KARL: But just to clarify, what McCain said specifically is dictators get started by limiting freedom of the press. I imagine you agree with that.
PAUL: Well, the thing is I don't agree with his analysis and applying that to the president. I haven't seen any legislation coming forward that wants to limit the press. I see President Trump expressing his opinion rather forceful in his own, you know, his own distinct way. But I see no evidence that anybody is putting forward any kind of legislation to limit the press.
KARL: Okay.
PAUL: So, I think people, you know, this is colored by John McCain's disagreement with President Trump. It all is. Everything that he says about the president is colored by his own personal dispute he's got running with President Trump. It should be taken within a grain of salt, because John McCain’s the guy that advocated for war everywhere. He would bankrupt the nation. And actually, we're very luck lucky John McCain’s not in charge, because I think we would be in perpetual war.
KARL: He certainly talked about changing the libel laws during the campaign. I want to turn to the firing of Michael Flynn.
…
9:32:30 AM Eastern
KARL: And finally, I want to ask your reaction to the President coming out and calling the news media, quote, “the enemies of the American people.”
ADAM SCHIFF: Well, I didn't think I could be shocked anymore by this president. But I have to say, of all the things he has said since he became president or since the election, this, to me, was the most devastating and the most alarming. That he essentially views the first amendment, because that’s what these organizations represent, as an enemy of the people. This is something that you hear tin pot dictators say when they want to control all of the information. It's not something you have ever heard a president of the United States say when they want to control all of the information. It’s not something you’ve ever heard a president of the United States say. Not even Nixon went there. And it is deeply concerning. I hope it is repudiated by people from both parties. Because this not America.
KARL: Well, as you know, Senator McCain said that-- He warned there's this flirting with authoritarianism in the United States. And said that dictators, quote, “get started by suppressing free press.” I gather you don't think that is hyperbolic. You think there is a risk of that here in the United States?
SCHIFF: I do think there is a risk of that. I think John McCain is exactly right. And I think what we're confronting now is a new war of ideas. It's not communism versus capitalism, but it is authoritarianism versus democracy and representative government. And that is a threat that here in Europe they feel acutely. They’ve seen countries interfered with, bombarded by cyber-attacks by Russian propaganda. Indeed, by Russian troops. And in the United States, the admiration for Putin, the admiration for the architect of that has many subscribers. In part, the president admires that. So there is a risk. John McCain is exactly right and the message he delivers here is exactly the message America needs to send to Europe. Because it's the right one.
KARL: Quite an assessment, Congressman Schiff, thank you for joining us.
…
...
CBS
Face The Nation
February 19, 2017
10:34:01 AM Eastern…
JOHN DICKERSON: Well, we are talking about the declaring that the press is the enemy and I just wanted to ask you this. In the past when the president, when he was a candidate and he targeted people, say, protesters at a rally, some people found that an opportunity to take license and target those people. As a spokesman for White House here with us today, what would you say to anybody who might take license with the idea when the president says the press is the enemy and act on that declaration by the president?
REINCE PRIEBUS: Well, I don't know what you mean by “act on.” I mean, certainly we would never condone violence but I do think we condone critical thought. And I think that if Americans put critical thought which I think they will into what they are reading in these newspapers and actually what is being accomplished by the Trump administration, they would realize that the press in many cases a not been doing their job in reporting the truth.
…
