Top Democrat says Trump's calling media 'the enemy' is something 'you hear tin-pot dictators say'

"Not even Nixon went there," Rep. Adam Schiff said.

ByABC News
February 18, 2017, 5:39 PM

— -- The House Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, blasted the president for calling the media "the enemy of the American people," telling ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, "This is something that you hear tin-pot dictators say."

"It's not something you have ever heard a president of the United States say," Schiff of California said in an exclusive interview that will air on "This Week" Sunday. "This is something that you hear tin-pot dictators say when they want to control all of the information.

President Trump tweeted Friday, "The FAKE NEWS media....is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!"

"I didn't think I could be shocked anymore by this president, but I have to say, of all the things he has said since he became president, or since the election, this to me was the most devastating and the most alarming," Schiff said. "That he essentially views the First Amendment -- because that's what these organizations represent -- as an enemy of the people."

"Not even Nixon went there," Schiff said of former President Richard Nixon.

Schiff said Trump's comment about the press was "deeply concerning" and that he hopes Republicans as well as Democrats will speak out against the remark.

"I hope it is repudiated by people from both parties, because this is not America," Schiff said.

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