Jeff Flake Compares Trump’s Language to Stalin: ‘He Borrowed’ His Media Attacks From Dictators

The noted anti-Donald Trump Republican Senator Jeff Flake took another shot at the president by suggesting his language against the media is a copy of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s attacks on the press.

Given that Trump has a habit of referring to the press as the “enemy of the people,” Flake noted that this line of attack isn’t original at all as it was popularized by some of the most brutal, violent leaders in the 20th century. In early 2017, Trump used this exact phrase on Twitter, saying, “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!”

In an interview with MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt, Flake explained the similarities between Trump and communist dictators Stalin and Mao:

“He borrowed that phrase — it was popularized be Joseph Stalin, used by Mao as well. ‘Enemy of the people,’ it should noted Nikita Khrushchev, who followed Stalin, forbad its use, saying that was too loaded — that it maligned a whole group or class of people. And it shouldn’t be done. I don’t think that we should be using a phrase that’s been rejected as too loaded by a Soviet dictator.”

While the Arizona senator has been more quiet in his criticisms of Trump in the past couple months, he has on numerous occasions made headlines by savaging the president. In fact, the feud between the two goes back to the general election after Flake confronted Trump on his mocking of veteran Senator John McCain’s capture in the Vietnam War.

[image via screengrab]

Follow the author on Twitter (@calebecarma).

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com