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| 'Enemies of the people': Trump remark echoes history's worst tyrants | 'Enemies of the people': Trump remark echoes history's worst tyrants |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| At a different time, in another country, it was effectively a death sentence. | At a different time, in another country, it was effectively a death sentence. |
| Being branded an "enemy of the people" by the likes of Stalin or Mao brought at best suspicion and stigma, at worst hard labour or death. | Being branded an "enemy of the people" by the likes of Stalin or Mao brought at best suspicion and stigma, at worst hard labour or death. |
| Now the chilling phrase - which is at least as old as Emperor Nero, who was called "hostis publicus", enemy of the public, by the Senate in AD 68 - is making something of a comeback. | Now the chilling phrase - which is at least as old as Emperor Nero, who was called "hostis publicus", enemy of the public, by the Senate in AD 68 - is making something of a comeback. |
| In November, the UK Daily Mail used its entire front page to brand three judges enemies of the people after they made a ruling on the Brexit process. | In November, the UK Daily Mail used its entire front page to brand three judges enemies of the people after they made a ruling on the Brexit process. |
| Now the US president, Donald Trump, has deployed the epithet against mainstream US media outlets that he sees as hostile. | Now the US president, Donald Trump, has deployed the epithet against mainstream US media outlets that he sees as hostile. |
| "The FAKE NEWS media (failing New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!" the president wrote on Twitter. | "The FAKE NEWS media (failing New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!" the president wrote on Twitter. |
| The reaction was swift. "Every president is irritated by the news media. No other president would have described the media as 'the enemy of the people'", tweeted David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama. | The reaction was swift. "Every president is irritated by the news media. No other president would have described the media as 'the enemy of the people'", tweeted David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama. |
| Gabriel Sherman, national affairs editor at New York magazine, called the phrase a "chilling" example of "full-on dictator speak". | |
| Steve Silberman, an award-winning writer and journalist, wondered whether the remark would prompt Trump supporters to shoot at journalists. | Steve Silberman, an award-winning writer and journalist, wondered whether the remark would prompt Trump supporters to shoot at journalists. |
| And that might not be a far-fetched concern. Late last year, a Trump supporter opened fire in a pizza restaurant at the centre of a bizarre conspiracy theory about child abuse. | And that might not be a far-fetched concern. Late last year, a Trump supporter opened fire in a pizza restaurant at the centre of a bizarre conspiracy theory about child abuse. |
| The US president's use of "enemies of the people" raises unavoidable echoes of some of history's most murderous dictators. | The US president's use of "enemies of the people" raises unavoidable echoes of some of history's most murderous dictators. |
| Under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, out-of-favour artists and politicians were designated enemies and many were sent to hard labour camps or killed. Others were stigmatised and denied access to education and employment. | Under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, out-of-favour artists and politicians were designated enemies and many were sent to hard labour camps or killed. Others were stigmatised and denied access to education and employment. |
| And Chairman Mao, the leader of China who presided over the deaths of millions of people in a famine brought about by his Great Leap Forward, was also known to use the phrase against anyone who opposed him, with terrible consequences. | And Chairman Mao, the leader of China who presided over the deaths of millions of people in a famine brought about by his Great Leap Forward, was also known to use the phrase against anyone who opposed him, with terrible consequences. |
| Mr Trump was widely criticised for his choice of words. | |
| "Charming that our uneducated President manages to channel the words of Stalin and fails to hear the historical resonance of this phrase," tweeted Mitchell Orenstein, a professor of Russian and East European studies at the University of Pennsylvania. | "Charming that our uneducated President manages to channel the words of Stalin and fails to hear the historical resonance of this phrase," tweeted Mitchell Orenstein, a professor of Russian and East European studies at the University of Pennsylvania. |
| Mr Trump is not the first US president to have an antagonistic relationship with the media - Richard Nixon is known to have privately referred to the press as "the enemy" - but his latest broadside, with all its attendant historical echoes, is unprecedented. |