WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ronald Reagan’s vision of America as a “shining city upon a hill” is being torn apart as President Donald Trump attacks America’s free press — while giving a communist leader the red carpet treatment, critics warned.
“It's just such a hot mess of chaos and corruption,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) told Raw Story Tuesday — the same day Department of Justice lawyers argued allowing CNN, MS NOW and Politico to cover Trump’s White House poses a national security risk.
Earlier in the day, Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran in his address to the UN General Assembly — after telling CNN's Kaitlan Collins “you shouldn’t be here” as she covered the gathering of world leaders.
“It's devastating, really, to think he's standing up there at the UN — first off, he's saying, ‘oh, I might obliterate a country,’ which would be a war crime,’” Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) told Raw Story.
“And then, you know, for the whole world there he is on display saying, ‘I'd like to shut down any voice that is in opposition to me.’ I mean, he might as well be a dictator in charge of North Korea or, you know, some other country. It's just obscene.”
Trump’s high-profile week on the international stage is far from over. Trump’s critics were bracing for more embarrassment Wednesday as the president was scheduled to begin hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Trump’s expected to greet Xi at Andrews Air Force Base Wednesday, ahead of a formal White House welcoming ceremony complete with a military flyover Thursday, and capped off with a formal state dinner later that evening.
All the pomp and circumstance won’t be enough to mask Trump’s ongoing effort to permanently ban the three critical news outlets from covering his White House.
Instead of America’s First Amendment being on display this week, critics say Trump’s worst instincts are being projected for all to see.
“Nothing is more important than the First Amendment because that ensures that everybody's voice is counted. I think, what's going on now is just horrifying,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), whose father, Peter, was an award-winning journalist, told Raw Story. “The signal that we're walking back from freedom, that's what it means to me.”
That has many political watchers on the left nervous.
“It's right out of Xi's playbook, right? I mean, if the media is not nice to you, if they're not giving you positive coverage, then ban them, try to undermine them, right?” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) told Raw Story. “Next he's going to try to arrest them or investigate them, right? So this guy will do anything it takes to consolidate power.”
The optics aren’t lost on former U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA).
“Ironic that it's at the same time that he's talking to XI. There's no free press in China, why have it here?” Beyer told Raw Story. “It was another very sad step on the road to destroying our democracy. This is what autocrats and dictators do. First is they ban the press. They don't want to hear bad news. They don't want bad news getting out.”
With many national news outlets banding together and boycotting live pooled coverage of Trump, the White House has rolled out Trump TV to stream the president’s events, which also has critics on edge.
“The access that’s being denied should concern every single person, because it's going to continue to grow; he's now launching, basically, state-run TV,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told Raw Story. “He wants to be an authoritarian. We see it more every single day.”
While Trump wants to come across as strong and in control, Democrats say his attacks on the free press actually makes him look petty and insecure.
“I talked to Lindell News today,” Beyer said through a mocking laugh as he discussed the fringe, conspiracy-peddling outlet.
Beyer says Trump needs to grow up.
“A lot of other presidents, Democrat and Republican, have had stories they didn't like,” Beyer said. “You know, Obama didn't like Fox. And I'm sure Lyndon Johnson didn't like all kinds of people, but they never threw them out.”
With November’s midterm elections just around the corner, Democrats say Trump is making their case for them — though they really wish he’d stop and get back to showcasing American excellence and press freedoms on the international stage.
“I don't know, like, if I were a Republican voter in Kansas or Alaska or Ohio, and I'd be looking at this and, you know — you're throwing this multi-million dollar gala for a communist, for the leader of the Communist People's Party at the same time that you're denying the free press in this country?” Minnesota Senator Smith told Raw Story. “It's crazy.”