Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., ramped up his rhetoric toward President Trump Wednesday in a call for congressional Republicans and Democrats to begin publicly denouncing the untruths Trump speaks and tweets from his position of authority.
Flake said Trump’s first year in office saw the truth “more battered and abused than at any time in the history of our country” by its very leader.
“No longer can we turn a blind eye or deaf ear to those assaults on our institutions, and … an American president who cannot take criticism, who must constantly deflect and distort and distract, who must find someone else to blame, is charting a very dangerous path. And a Congress that fails to act as a check on the president adds to that danger. Now we’re told via Twitter that today the president intends to announce his choice for the, quote, ‘most corrupt and dishonest media awards,'” Flake said during a Senate floor speech Wednesday morning.
“[This] must be the year in which the truth takes a stand against power that would weaken it. In this effort, the choice is quite simple. In this effort, the truth needs as many allies as possible. Together, my colleagues, we’re powerful. Together, we have it within us to turn back these attacks, to right these wrongs, and repair this damage and restore reverence for institutions and prevent further moral vandalism. Together, united in this purpose to do our jobs under the Constitution, without regard to party or party loyalty, let us resolve to be allies of the truth and not partners in its destruction,” he added.
He cited false reports from Trump and the White House as examples of false information: Inauguration attendance levels, former President Barack Obama’s birth country, and special counsel Robert Mueller’s hoax probe to destroy Trump.
“The enemy of the people was how the president of the United States called the free pass in 2017. Mr. President, it is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies,” Flake said. “The president has it precisely backward. Despotism is the enemy of the people and free press is the despot’s enemy, which makes the free press the guardian of democracy. When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn’t suit him ‘fake news,’ it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press.”
Flake predicted the “damage” the Trump administration has done on American society will not be confined to Trump’s time in office if lawmakers allow it to continue without calling out false news.
Flake’s speech comes just hours before the White House is possibly scheduled to commence Trump’s “Fake News Awards,” a ceremony the president began teasing last week.
The “awards” ceremony for outlets the president despises the most had been scheduled for Jan. 8, but was postponed.
