CNN Anchor Stunned by Trump ‘Dictator’ Rant: ‘Amazing He Would Even Bring That Up!’

CNN anchor Abby Phillip was stunned by President Donald Trump’s rant on the subject of “dictators,” calling it “amazing that he would even bring it up.”

Trump held two marathon press sessions Monday, during which the subject of his use of the military to police U.S. cities came up repeatedly. Trump and his administration have supported the push with a steady stream of wild, and at times unhinged claims about crime.

The takeover scheme has also prompted increased chatter that Trump is a “dictator,” a criticism that Trump addressed head-on at one point during his flag-burning executive order photo op:

And they say, we don’t need him, freedom, freedom, he’s a dictator, he’s a dictator. A lot of people are saying maybe we like a dictator. I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and I’m a smart person.

On Monday’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Phillip opened the show by playing a clip of one source of that chatter — Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) —and expressing shock that Trump broached the subject:

PHILLIP: Let’s get right to what America’s talking about. Donald Trump’s military occupation could soon be coming to other cities across the U.S. and he already has his sights set on his next location.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I made the statement that next should be Chicago, because, as you all know, Chicago’s a killing field right now. And they don’t acknowledge it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Chicago is a city that’s seen a significant drop in crime over the last year, including homicides, which are at their lowest levels in nearly a decade. But the facts don’t matter to Trump, who today gave himself more power to expand his law enforcement crackdown, by signing an order that creates so-called specialized units within the National Guard that could be trained in police work.

But in a fiery speech, Illinois’s Democratic Governor had this message for Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRITZKER: This is not about fighting crime. This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city, in a blue state, to try and intimidate his political rivals.

There is no emergency in Chicago that calls for armed military intervention. Mr. President, do not come to Chicago.

You are neither wanted here nor needed here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Now, if this sound sounds like Trump is taking a cue from the dictator playbook, he claims you’d be wrong. And yet in the same breath, he says, this is what Americans want.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And they say, we don’t need him, freedom, freedom, he’s a dictator, he’s a dictator. A lot of people are saying maybe we like a dictator. I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense and I’m a smart person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: It’s amazing to me that he would even bring that up, but I guess he understands that that’s what’s on people’s minds.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.