Clinton Treasury secretary compares Trump’s attacks on Amazon to Mussolini

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers tore into President Trump in a new interview, comparing his attacks on Amazon to Benito Mussolini. 

In an interview with CNN, Summers said that Trump’s criticism of Amazon is tied to his disdain for The Washington Post’s coverage of his presidency — Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also owns the newspaper.

“What is not the job of the president of the United States is to go on a jihad against a company because he does not like the activities of a newspaper that is privately owned by its CEO,” Summers said. “That is the kind of thing that happened in Mussolini’s Italy … that is not the kind of thing that happens in the American democracy.”

“It is something that should be deeply concerning to business people everywhere,” Summers added. 

Trump has harshly criticized Amazon in recent weeks, repeatedly claiming without evidence that the online retailer costs the U.S. Postal Service “massive amounts of money.”

He has also directed his vitriol at The Washington Post, calling the paper Amazon’s “chief lobbyist.”

Trump drew backlash from prominent media figures on Sunday after tweeting that the Washington Post is “more fiction than fact.” Washington Post senior editor Marc Fisher said Sunday that Trump has a “jealousy issue” with Bezos.

The Washington Post is far more fiction than fact. Story after story is made up garbage – more like a poorly written novel than good reporting. Always quoting sources (not names), many of which don’t exist. Story on John Kelly isn’t true, just another hit job!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2018