'That's how dictators get started': Trump critics alarmed by president's fierce attacks on media
Jamie Roberton
Former Health and Science Producer
Video report by ITV News Washington correspondent Robert Moore
President Trump's relentless attacks on the media continue to attract alarm, with one of his most frequent critics warning that suppressing the free press was "how dictators get started".
In language more typically used by oppressive and authoritarian regimes, Mr Trump tweeted on Friday that reporters and news networks were "the enemy of the American people".
Mr Trump has long been critical of press coverage of his campaign and administration, believing journalists are out to undermine and delegitimatise his presidency.
But Friday's rebuke was a striking escalation of his rhetoric.
He used a campaign-style rally in Orlando, Florida on Saturday to again pit the press against the public, telling thousands of his gathered supporters that the "dishonest" media did not want to "report the truth".
"They have their own agenda, and their agenda is not your agenda," he said.
Mr Trump's own defence secretary distanced himself from the president's assessment of the media on Sunday.
Asked whether he agreed with the "enemy of the people" tweet, James Mattis said: "I've had some rather contentious times with the press. But no, the press, as far as I'm concerned, are a constituency that we deal with. And I don't have any issues with the press, myself."
John McCain, the Republican senator and former presidential candidate, told NBC's Meet The Press that a free press was fundamental to a functional democracy.
“I hate the press. I hate you, especially,” he joked to host Chuck Todd. “But the fact is, we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It's vital.”
“If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and, many times, adversarial press," he added.
"And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time - that's how dictators get started.”
After being read Mr Trump's tweet by a reporter, Carl Bernstein, the journalist who broke the Watergate scandal, replied: "Oh boy."
Mr Bernstein said the president was failing to understand the principle of a free press, claiming his language was more incendiary than that used by former President Richard Nixon.
In response to Mr Trump's tweet, people began sharing the stories of journalists who have lost their lives under the hashtag #NotTheEnemy.
Reince Priebus, Mr Trump's chief-of-staff, said while the president respected the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of the press under the US constitution, his harsh critique of reporters and news networks were justified.
"The president believes in the First Amendment; he believes in the free press," he said.
"But there are some things that are really bad. And we've tried to - he categorizes that as "fake news." What we've been through over the last ten days has been unbelievable, the leaks, the fake stories, the anonymous accusations. That stuff is bad."
Mr Trump has spent the third weekend in succession at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
He will head back to the White House on Sunday night ahead of another monumental week for his presidency.
He is expected to issue a new version of his controversial travel ban and appoint a new national security adviser, following Michael Flynn's resignation last week.