Clinton: Free press is under ‘open assault’ in Trump era

NEW YORK – Hillary Clinton says press rights and free speech are “under open assault” under Donald Trump, and has likened his administration to an authoritarian regime.

The former secretary of state minced no words in a lecture on freedom of speech Sunday night. She says Trump seems to reject the role of a free press in a democracy in “an all-out war on truth, facts and reason.”

She says it was no wonder that her former opponent in the 2016 election apparently joked about throwing reporters in jail to make them talk. She was referring to recent revelations from memos by former FBI director James Comey. It was her only reference to Comey.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Clinton’s remarks.