President Donald J. Trump has been taking heat from Democrats and even some Republicans (I’m looking at you, Sen. John McCain) over his criticism of the discredited Washington establishment press, which he and his closest advisor, Steve Bannon, have characterized as the true “opposition party” in the country.

The war of words between Trump and the establishment media, however, it not because of the president’s temperament or his inability to take criticism. In a recent press conference, Trump said plainly he had no problem with being criticized by the press – he just wishes the criticism of him was honest.

Trump took this message directly to the American people Saturday at a huge rally in Melbourne, Florida, after he characterized today’s establishment media as the “enemy.”

Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus doubled down on the characterization during an interview with John Dickerson on CBS’ “Face the Nation” program, which aired on Sunday. Priebus was asked if Trump’s press criticisms should be taken “seriously.” (RELATED: Fake News CNN Insinuates Trump Is Mentally Unstable… Will They Ever Stop Lying?)

“Well, I think you should take it seriously. I think that the problem we’ve got is that we’re talking about bogus stories like the one in The New York Times, that we’ve had constant contact with Russian officials,” he said. “The next day, the Wall Street Journal had a story that the intel community was not giving the president a full intelligence briefing. Both stories grossly inaccurate, overstated, overblown, and it’s total garbage. So we spend 48 hours on bogus stories. And the American people suffer. So I do think it’s a problem. And I think that the media needs to, in some cases — not every case, John — but in some cases really needs to get its act together.”

Yes, but is the press the “enemy,” Dickerson pressed.

Priebus was undaunted in the characterization and, frankly, stated the obvious when he said that the media, as the direct link between political power and the American people, ought to at least be honest in its reporting. The establishment media has had a credibility problem long before Trump was elected president, but Americans have seen the credibility problem greatly exacerbated in the Age of Trump, with coverage that is so incredibly biased against him – and frequently just flat-out wrong.

He also echoed the complaints of his boss in saying the “media is willing to run with unnamed sources, apparently false, leaked documents to create stories. I think that the media should stop with this unnamed source stuff, put names on a piece of paper and print it. If people aren’t willing to put their name next to a quote, then the quote shouldn’t be listed.”

Yes, but the “enemy?”

“I think in our case we have a total feeding frenzy that has gotten so out of control,” he responded. (RELATED: NYT Commits TREASON In Fake News Attempt To Overthrow The United States Government… Is It Time To Start Arresting Traitors Who Pretend To Be Journalists?)

Dickerson then tried to insinuate that Trump’s media characterizations would lead to violence against reporters by his supporters (Note to Dickerson: Supporters of the Left are the ones who practice violence – ask Milo Yiannopoulos about that). Priebus didn’t take the bait, saying neither the president nor anyone in his administration would condone such a thing.

However, he did say the president supports “critical thought” as it should be applied by members of the press.

“We’re talking about stupidity and intelligence reporting that is based on facts [that are] not coming out of the actual heads of these intelligence agencies,” Priebus said of recent media reports. “And we’re sitting here talking about it. And it’s a shame. And it needs to end.”

Priebus – former head of the Republican National Committee – was also asked to respond to McCain’s recent slam of Trump’s media criticism, where he said we should all be “alarmed by the growing inability and even unwillingness to separate truth from lies.”

“I don’t even know what he’s referring to,” Priebus said. “I mean, I didn’t see his statement. But he would be wrong in regard to that statement and the White House and President Trump.”

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources:

TheNationalSentinel.com

MediaFactWatch.com

Breitbart.com

CBSNews.com