Toddlers are a lot like dictators. They’re generally selfish, they shout and complain and make everyone miserable until they get their way, and most of all, they do not take criticism well.

Honestly, I’m not sure if Trump reminds me more of a toddler or a dictator.

I generally shy away from comparisons to dictators. I think the comparisons are shallow and lazy attempts to discredit someone, but in Trump’s case the argument actually holds a lot of weight.

The key to a populist campaign like the one Trump ran is to have an enemy. A lot of times the elites, or the “1 percent,” are a popular scapegoat for populists to choose.

But given that Trump ran as a conservative and that argument typically doesn’t appeal to the conservative base, he picked the media. And since many on the right already felt like popular media outlets didn’t understand them and were working against them, it was the perfect fit.

Trump’s constant allusions to “fake news” and his other attempts to discredit the media aren’t just childish, they’re frightening. It’s an effort to censor the media without actually censoring the media. If he can make everyone believe that the media is their enemy, then nobody will believe any negative report about his administration.

And the implications of that situation are very dangerous.

There is a reason we have a news media that is independent from the government. The media is the avenue through which we get our information about the decisions being made for our country.

If the only news we got came from within the White House, they would have the power to distort any information we receive. This would allow any administration to glorify their own actions and demonize anyone who stands in their way on their quest for complete control.

This is the direction I fear Trump is headed.

In an interview with Reince Priebus, Chris Wallace explained, “Barack Obama whined about Fox News all the time, but I’ve got to say, he never said we were an enemy of the people.”

That is an important distinction to make. Because even though there may be people within different networks who have opinions that differ from the president’s, he does not get to decide what they do and do not report.

Because that level of control is only exerted by dictators, not the leader of the free world.