In Calling Press ‘Enemy of the People,’ Trump Revisits McCarthy Era, Says Marvin Kalb in New Book

“Carnegie Council holds book discussion on Marvin Kalb’s ‘Enemy of the People: Trump’s War on the Press, the New McCarthyism, and the Threat to American Democracy.'” Credit: Billy Pickett

By Michelle Ayr

 

On Thursday, the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs held a book discussion with Marvin Kalb. The Brookings Institution Foreign Policy Program Non-Resident Senior Fellow reflected on his most recent book: “Enemy of the People:  Trump’s War on the Press, the New McCarthyism, and the Threat to American Democracy.”

“This is a book that I did not want to write,” said the veteran chief diplomatic correspondent for CBS and NBC News, adding, “I did not want to write it because I didn’t ever want to frankly be crowded into believing that a fundamental pillar of American democracy was simply being threatened. That simply didn’t enter my mind.”

In his book, Kalb argues that the phrase, “enemy of the people,” is used by Trump wrongfully. The free press, Kalb said, has a natural justification. It is democracy’s insurance policy. Even so, it has suffered damage, as under President Richard Nixon several decades ago, and as under President Donald Trump today.

“I believe firmly that President Trump has no idea what the historical origin of the phrase, ‘enemy of the people’ is,” said Kalb. Trump has no idea because he has no grounding in history, he said. “He does not read history books, he does not read books. In fact, he has stated that he does not read books, and, that every now and then, he will read a chapter of the book that is brought to his attention as something you have to read,” said the former moderator of Meet the Press, adding. “I’m not even sure of that.”

In his new book Kalb touches on the background to the animosity Trump shows the press today. “The network anchors and newspaper columnists themselves had become part of the elite,” he writes, and they thus became targets of angry outlier politicians, chief among them today being Trump.

During a discussion with those at Thursday’s event, Kalb talked about the disagreements between radical right-wing anti-Communist Senator Joseph McCarthy and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, during the late 1950s. Kalb pointed out that McCarthy “was the most popular Republican in the country.” He added that the Senator from Wisconsin was a bridge to President Trump.

The press today is playing the role of victim, Kalb suggested. “He (Trump) uses the press constantly,” said Kalb, adding, “He has the press in his grip, and he is using it now very effectively in terms of building, maintaining and solidifying his support in the entire right wing of the American politics.”

Kalb said he believes the autocratic ways of Trump could be on their way out. The recent election shows the country “is breaking free of Trumpian fantasia and nuttiness,” he said, “and I think that right now the entire American political structure is, sort of, moving away from Trump. That middle ground is moving away, but we’re not quite there yet.”

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