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Former CIA director John Brennan today compared Donald Trump to “tyrants and despots” as he hit back at the president for revoking his security clearance.

Mr Brennan, who was America’s spy chief under Barack Obama, said the unusual move proved he was being punished by the White House for criticising the US administration.

“I’ve seen this type of behaviour on the part of foreign tyrants and despots and autocrats for many years during my CIA and national security career,” Mr Brennan told MSNBC.

“I never, ever thought that I would see it here in the United States.”

Mr Brennan vowed to continue calling the president to account, adding: “If Mr Trump believes that this is going to lead me to just go away and be quiet, he is very badly mistaken.”

He said in a tweet that the action was part of a “broader effort by Mr Trump to suppress freedom of speech and punish critics”.

“It should gravely worry all Americans, including intelligence professionals, about the cost of speaking out. My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent,” he wrote.

Mr Trump said he had revoked Mr Brennan’s clearance because of his “erratic conduct and behaviour”. Mr Brennan has become an outspoken critic of the Trump administration and angered the president by saying his performance at his meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in July was “nothing short of treasonous”.

In a statement, Mr Trump said he was also considering whether to stop the access to classified information for fired FBI director James Comey, former National Security Agency director Michael Hayden, former intelligence director James Clapper and former attorney general Sally Yates. All have been critical of the president.

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry accused Mr Trump of “putting personal petty politics ahead of patriotism and national security.”

It came as more than 300 US news organisations launched a free press campaign in response to Mr Trump’s criticism of the media. The president has repeatedly denigrated media reports as “fake news” and branded journalists “enemies of the people”.

Last week, the Boston Globe said it planned to write an editorial “on the dangers of the administration’s assault on the press” and urged other US publications to do the same.

In an article published today, titled “Journalists Are Not the Enemy”, the Globe wrote that Mr Trump’s treatment of the press “sends an alarming signal to despots” around the world.

The New York Times called Mr Trump’s attacks “dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy” in an article headlined “A Free Press Needs You”.