Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather slammed the Trump administration Sunday on Facebook just days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Rather aimed his criticism at White House press secretary Sean Spicer, saying these are not “normal times,” claiming Spicer was lying about the crowd size at the inauguration. The comments come after Spice slammed the media for allegedly reporting false numbers.
“When you have a press secretary in his first appearance before the White House reporters threaten, bully, lie, and then walk out of the briefing room without the cajones to answer a single question … ,” he said. “When you have a President stand before the stars of the fallen CIA agents and boast about the size of his crowds (lies) and how great his authoritarian inaugural … ,” he continued.
According to Rather, the press and public “have never seen anything like this before.”
“What can we do? We can all step up and say simply and without equivocation. ‘A lie, is a lie, is a lie!'” he continued. “And if someone won’t say it, those of us who know that there is such a thing as the truth must do whatever is in our power to diminish the liar’s malignant reach into our society.”
Rather called on journalists to question Republican lawmakers about the White House’s statements.
“If you are interviewing a Paul Ryan, a Mitch McConnell, or any other GOP elected official, the first question must be ‘what will you do to combat the lying from the White House?'” Rather wrote. “If they dodge and weave, keep with the follow ups. And if they refuse to give a satisfactory answer, end the interview.”
Rather said it’s the media’s goal to hold the executive branch accountable by taking “extraordinary measures” in these “extraordinary times.”
“Facts and the truth are not partisan. They are the bedrock of our democracy. And you are either with them, with us, with our Constitution, our history, and the future of our nation, or you are against it,” he concluded. “Everyone must answer that question.”
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