US Sen. John McCain, defending the media against the latest attack by President Donald Trump, warned that suppressing the free press was “how dictators get started.”
The Arizona Republican, a frequent critic of Trump, was responding to a tweet in which Trump accused the media of being “the enemy of the American people”.
The international order established after WWII was built in part on a free press, McCain said in an excerpt of an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that was released in advance of the full Sunday morning broadcast.
“I hate the press. I hate you especially,” he told interviewer Chuck Todd from an international security conference in Munich. “But the fact is we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It’s vital.”
On Sunday, a top aide denied that Trump is having difficulty filling the key post of national security adviser because of White House moves to politicize the office.
Trump, at his Mar-a-Lago getaway in Florida, was set to interview four candidates to replace Mike Flynn, the retired general who was ousted as national security adviser for deceiving Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to Washington.
Separately, Trump apparently referred to the Scandinavian country as the site of a terror incident as he spoke to his supporters on Saturday.
He was addressing a campaign-style rally in Florida when he launched into a list of places that have been targeted by terrorists.
“You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible,” he said, provoking mockery on social media.
He went on to name Brussels, Nice and Paris — European cities that have been struck by deadly terror attacks.
Swedish Embassy in Washington has asked for an explanation, the foreign ministry in Stockholm said Sunday.
Meanwhile, London’s mayor said that Trump should not receive a state visit in Britain because of his “cruel” policies on immigration.
Sadiq Khan said Sunday the US president should not get VIP treatment when he comes to Britain later this year because of his “ban on people from seven Muslim-majorities countries” and his decision to block refugees from entering the US.
Khan said that “in those circumstances we shouldn’t be rolling out the red carpet.”

Source: Arab News