President Donald Trump has never shied away from criticizing the news media. But he seemed to take things to a new level on Friday when he wrote in a tweet that media outlets, including the New York Times, NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN are “the enemy of the American people.” (His first tweet only included the Times, CNN, and NBC and ended with the conclusion: “SICK!” But that was quickly deleted.) Both tweets did include some choice capitalization as the commander-in-chief labeled the outlets “the FAKE NEWS media.”

Trump updates deleted tweet to include more media outlets he hates: pic.twitter.com/uZu474LOwI — Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 17, 2017

Trump blasting the news media is nothing new, of course. Even a day earlier, Trump uttered the phrase “fake news” seven times during a White House news conference. Yet labeling the media the “enemy of the American people” seemed to take things to a new level and many quickly drew parallels to tyrants throughout history that were fond of the phrase. Although it harkens back to ancient Rome, many remember that the phrase was used during the purges ordered by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. “It is one of the most controversial phrases in Soviet history,” explained Mitchell Orenstein, professor of Russian and East European studies at the University of Pennsylvania. “What it basically meant was a death sentence.”

Charming that our uneducated President manages to channel the words of Stalin and fails to hear the historical resonance of this phrase https://t.co/TuoCkMVwKa — Mitchell Orenstein (@m_orenstein) February 17, 2017

Krushchev: The formula “enemy of the people” was specifically introduced for the purpose of physically annihilating such individuals. — Mitchell Orenstein (@m_orenstein) February 18, 2017

The expression was also a favorite of China’s Mao Zedong, who used the “enemies of the people” label against anyone who opposed his policies. Identifying and later punishing those enemies was central to Mao’s rule. A Chinese journalist, Li Yuan, pointed out the parallel on Twitter, noting that “every dissenting voice was ‘the enemy of the people’ under Mao.”

Chairman Mao had. Every dissenting voice was "the enemy of the people" under Mao. https://t.co/7jftRMmXOT — Li Yuan (@LiYuan6) February 18, 2017

Beijing seems to be welcoming this fresh attack on the news media with glee. China’s state-run newspaper Global Times noted in an editorial that Trump’s “war with mainstream media” would make it difficult for the president to challenge Beijing on “ideological” issues such as human rights. “His war with mainstream media makes it difficult for Trump to ally with the media on [the] ideological front against China,” the newspaper said. “Many have predicted that Trump’s presidency would exacerbate the recession of liberalism.”

The language of an aspiring tyrant. And no, not a joke, and not an exaggeration, and not a thought spasm from a disordered intellect. https://t.co/8PWdLGnok8 — Eliot A Cohen (@EliotACohen) February 17, 2017

Following the president’s press conference on Thursday night, a 25-question “Mainstream Media Accountability Survey” was posted on the Republican Party and Trump’s campaign websites. Those who fill out the survey are then taken to a donation page where they are asked to fork over anywhere from $35 to $2,500: “President Trump is asking you to go the extra mile and make a contribution to help defend our movement from the outrageous attacks from the media coming our way.”