Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, on Wednesday charged President Trump with using “Stalinist” language by adopting epithets like “enemies of the people” to describe journalists and media organizations.
“Stalin called people enemies of the people. That’s communist talk. That’s Stalinist talk,” Brown said during a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday.
“Yet this president calls reporters, who get up every day and do their jobs — most of them not paid very well, frankly — calls them enemies of the people,” he continued. “They do vital work not just in Washington, but throughout the country.”
[Also read: New York Times publisher: I told Trump his anti-press language is ‘increasingly dangerous’]
Brown, who is married to nationally syndicated columnist Connie Schultz, said he was so outraged by Trump’s rhetoric and attempts to limit press access that he had joined Democratic colleagues in the Senate in introducing a resolution condemning the president’s behavior, while also emphasizing the importance of a free and independent Fourth Estate.
He also vowed to highlight the work of local Ohio reporters on the floor of the upper chamber.
“Journalists wake up every day, they do their jobs, they serve their communities, they serve their country,” he added. “They’re not enemies of the people. I would just pray to God the president of the United States would stop that kind of talk.”
Trump’s tense relationship with members of the media escalated last week after his tough talk seemed to turn into action. The White House in July banned CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins from an open press event over what communication aides deemed to be “inappropriate” questions asked earlier in the day.
