Trump Takes Authoritarian Stance In Portraying Journalists As Anti-American Enemy

President Donald Trump followed in the tradition of authoritarian rulers during Tuesday nights raucous rally in Phoenix by accusing journalists of disliking their own country and actively working toward its failure.

It was an insidious line of attack that stood out even to journalists accustomed to Trumps persistent swipes at the press over the past two years.

This one felt different, ABC News correspondent Cecilia Vega said Wednesday on Good Morning America. It really feels like a matter of time, frankly, before someone gets hurt.

Trumps demonization of the press was apparent throughout the 2016 campaign, as he recklessly attacked journalists at rallies and blacklisted others. He now routinely dismisses critical coverage as fake news, and several of the insults he used Tuesday night couldve come straight from his Twitter feed.

The president ripped the failing New York Times, accused Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos of using the paper as a lobbying arm for Amazon , and called CNN pathetic an insult which prompted a CNN Sucks! chant from the crowd that the president appeared to relish. He did praise some in the media as honest, like Fox News , which Trump said has treated me fairly.

But Trump shifted into more dangerous territory when accusing the news media of dividing and weakening the country, a way of delegitimizing perceived critics thats reminiscent of autocratic rulers.

Honestly, these are really, really dishonest people, Trump said of the press. And they are bad people. And I really think they dont like our country. I really believe that.

Trump also said of the press that you would think theyd want to make our country great again and yet he honestly believ[ed] they dont.

Vega, who at one point filmed the jeering crowd of Trump supporters, described the presidents remarks as incitement, plain and simple.

WATCH: @CeciliaVega shows what the crowd looked like following Pres. Trump saying \"journalists hate this country\" at Phoenix rally. pic.twitter.com/DIlJ2uv8iB

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WATCH: @CeciliaVega shows what the crowd looked like following Pres. Trump saying "journalists hate this country" at Phoenix rally. pic.twitter.com/DIlJ2uv8iB
Good Morning America (@GMA) August 23, 2017

Trumps rhetoric Tuesday night harked back to his February accusation that the fake news media is the enemy of the people, specifically outlets such as The New York Times and major TV news organizations.

The phrase enemy of the people has a troubling history. The Nazis maligned Jews as enemies of Germany, and Chinas Chairman Mao Zedong employed the same construction to target dissenters. Soviet leaders Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin also used the phrase to disparage political adversaries and others opposed to their dictatorial rule.

Nina Khrushcheva a New School professor and great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who actually rejected the term enemy of the people in 1956 told The Times in February that Trumps words were shocking to hear in a non-Soviet, moreover non-Stalinist setting.

She likened Trumps enemy of the people line to notorious dictators of the past in that the formulas of insult, humiliation, domination, branding, enemy-forming and name calling are always the same.

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a former friend of Trump who has since emerged as a frequent critic, described Trumps anti-press statements on Wednesday morning as Stalinist.

Trump has long shown a soft spot for strongmen. Hes heaped more praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin than on traditional European allies who operate in more open and democratic ways. Hes also praised autocrats like Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government jails more journalists than any other, and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who has justified killing journalists , among others.

Though Trump didnt specifically use the phrase enemy of the people on Tuesday night, he repeatedly suggested that the press and the public are in opposition.

Youre taxpaying Americans who love our nation, obey our laws, and care for our people, Trump said. Its time to expose the crooked media deceptions and to challenge the media for their role in fomenting divisions, and yes, by the way ... they are trying to take away our history and our heritage.