Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather vented about Donald Trump Wednesday, saying the presumptive Republican nominee has him awfully worried about First Amendment rights.
"I felt a shudder down my spine yesterday watching Donald Trump's fusilade against the press. This is not a moment to be trifled with. It wasn't his first tirade and it won't be his last," Rather wrote in a lengthy
Facebook post.
"This is a dirty, nasty election. And it is only going to get worse. The reporters in the trenches need no lecture from me. They are walking through daily minefields, bracing themselves against winds of discontent whose effects no one can predict.
"I know what it is like to sit in those seats and feel the scorn and even wrath of politicians of all political persuasions. Attacking the press for unfair coverage has long been a bipartisan pursuit. Sometimes it works. I am happy to say that more often it doesn't. But Trump's brand of vituperation is particularly personal and vicious. It carries with it the drumbeats of threatening violence. It cannot be left unanswered."
Rather has been critical of Trump in the past, including in December
when he said the real estate mogul's idea to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States would help the Islamic State (ISIS) from a "propaganda standpoint."
In his Wednesday Facebook post, Rather said reporters must not "back up, back down, back away or turn around when faced with efforts to intimidate them."
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