“It is the press, above all, which wages a positively fanatical and slanderous struggle, tearing down everything which can be regarded as a support of national independence, cultural elevation, and the economic independence of the nation.”[i]
“The press is the enemy of the people.” Donald Trump lashed out at the press in the last few days, again, as the nation and the world grappled with the largest terrorist attack against the Jewish people in the history of the nation. In New York City, the Empire State Building went dim in honor of those killed in Pittsburg. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower went dim. Across the world, there were prayers for the families of the lost. In the U.S., there was politics as usual.
The day after another pipe bomb was delivered to CNN, the President tweeted that “There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news. The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That will do much to put out the flame...”
We could be gracious and assume that the President and his minions do not understand the gravity of their discourse. We could believe that the President does not understand the history of the term. We could lay the actions of the administration to poor timing or lack of sensitivity. We could, but it is none of the above.
Enemy of the people goes back to the time of Nero. During the Reign of Terror in France, the government used “ennemi du peuple” to describe those who disagreed with it. The Third Reich called Jews the sworn enemy of the people. Mao called the press the enemy of the people. Stalin used the press to teach the populists to believe in his government, and those who did not agree wore the title of an enemy of the people.
There is, to be sure, a lot of fake news in newspapers with agendas. Human Events comes to mind, as well as the Weekly Standard, National Review, the Washington Times or the New York Post. Social media simply boils with agenda driven lies. However, the major newspapers who report the news accurately, in a democracy, cannot be called the enemy of the people. It is the role of the press, the Fourth Estate, to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.[ii] When they do their job well, they are not the enemy of the people.
To be sure, we are a few days from a significant mid-term election that will decide the tenor of the country for the next two to six years. It is legitimate to rile up the base and get out the vote. It is legitimate to work with all your energy to win the election. It is not OK to do whatever it takes to win.
In a period of national mourning, we depend on the President to be the Consoler in Chief. In a week when fifteen or more bombs were sent to leaders and prominent institutions across the country, we had no one to console us because our leader was on the campaign trail complaining about how the wind had blown his hair, or tweeting about the pitching changes in the World Series game. Any other President, of either party, would have called for at least three days of mourning and cessations of campaigning. They did it in past years. Ours, today, continues the campaign in earnest, building up hatred against those who disagree with him.
It should never be forgotten that the people of Germany elected Adolph Hitler to be their Chancellor. Once in power, he rallied the populist into a frenzy that allowed for the extermination of millions of the enemies of the state. The people of Russia allowed Lenin and Stalin to come to power and to eliminate millions of the enemies of the state.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.[iii]
