The publisher of The Washington Post is speaking out against claims about "fake new" from President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE and others, saying that comparing unflattering news to fake news is "corrosive" to the country.

Fred Ryan wrote in a Post op-ed published Friday that journalists are the targets of “calculated attacks” that are “conducted by people who would prefer to wield power free from accountability and out of the public eye.”

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“That truth might not always be what a leader wants to hear. But there is an enormous difference between ‘unfavorable news’ and ‘fake news.’ It is wrong to conflate them. Doing so is an attack on the truth — and it is corrosive to our democracy,” he wrote.

Ryan noted that there have always been tensions between members of the media and politicians but that hostilities have skyrocketed under Trump, who has dubbed mainstream outlets as the “enemy” of the people, a phrase Ryan says “crosses a line.”

“When the president uses these words, it is dangerous and reckless. He should stop labeling his fellow citizens as ‘enemies’ immediately — before it leads to physical harm to innocent Americans,” he wrote.

“He, and leaders across the globe, must understand that journalists are not ‘enemies of the people.’ They are servants of the people — and of the democratic principles that empower the people,” Ryan added.

Trump has had a notoriously acrimonious relationship with the press since he launched his campaign, lambasting a bevy of mainstream media outlets that publish unflattering stories about him as peddlers of “fake news.”

The Washington Post has been a favorite target of the White House, with Trump dubbing it the “Amazon Washington Post” after it was purchased by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Jeffrey (Jeff) Preston BezosTwitter mandates lawmakers, journalists to beef up passwords heading into election Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll Amazon planning small delivery hubs in suburbs MORE, whom he regularly criticizes.