More from Exclusive Interview with Sen. McCain Airing Tomorrow on “Meet the Press with Chuck Todd”
FEB. 18, 2017 – In an exclusive interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) reacted to President Donald Trump’s tweet on Friday calling the news media “the enemy of the American people”: “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.”
Dictators “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,” the senator continued. “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.”
Watch the interview excerpt, and see below for its transcript.
Tune into “Meet the Press” tomorrow morning for more from Todd’s exclusive interview with Sen. McCain as well as an exclusive interview with former Defense Sec. Leon Panetta. Reince Priebus, chief of staff to President Trump, will also join the show live.
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CHUCK TODD: I’m curious of your reaction to a tweet that the president sent Friday night. “The fake news media, failing New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, CNN is not my enemy. It is the enemy of the American people.” You believe the press is the enemy? You believe any group of Americans are the enemy of another group of Americans?
JOHN MCCAIN: I was talking about the period as, you know, of the new world order. A fundamental part of that new world order was a free press. 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. That’s how dictators get started.
CHUCK TODD: That’s how dictators get started, with tweets like that?
JOHN MCCAIN: No. 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.
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