Political Quotes

On the recordOctober 11, 2018
Mr. President, there are no more consequential words spoken than those spoken by the President of the United States. The words of a President reverberate around the world like no other world leader's, and as attentive as Americans are to what our President says, the rest of the world is probably paying even closer attention, as it is often their fate that hangs in the balance when our President speaks. Americans can ignore certain utterances from the President. The rest of the world often has no such luxury. Another audience for Presidential utterances is the despot, the strongman, the authoritarian, and the dictator. From this President, that horrible focus group has received a great deal of sustenance. In fact, the oppressors of the world have taken to parroting some of their favorite lines from the White House. Anything critical of their regimes has become ``fake news,'' and the press is the ``enemy of the people,'' just to name two of our President's greatest hits. As I mentioned in this Chamber in January of this year, a State official in Myanmar recently said: There is no such thing as Rohingya. It is fake news. He was, of course, referring to the persecuted ethnic group. In February of last year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad brushed off an Amnesty International report that some 13,000 people had been murdered in his military prisons by saying: You can forge anything these days. We are living in a fake news era.…
Said by
Jeff Flake
Republican · Arizona

Share & report

More from Jeff Flake

Sep 26, 2018

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following leader remarks on Thursday, September 27, the Senate proceed to executive session for the consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 867. I further ask that the…

Congressional Record · 2018-09-26
Sep 18, 2018

Mr. President, I have 11 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the…

Congressional Record · 2018-09-18
Nov 28, 2018

Madam President, I thank my colleague from New Jersey and my colleague from Delaware for working together on this issue. I rise today once again to speak in defense of Special Counsel Robert Mueller and to speak of the importance of the…

Congressional Record · 2018-11-28
Oct 11, 2018

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all postcloture time on the Dreiband nomination expire at 2 p.m. today and that the Senate vote on confirmation of the Dreiband nomination with no intervening action or debate; further, that if…

Congressional Record · 2018-10-11

Other voices in this conversation