Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) thanked God for the work of the New York Times on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and defended the press against President Donald Trump on Thursday.
"We are all as Americans part of an ongoing experiment in citizenship and in governance, and for the first time it has really turned sour here in this country," Whitehouse said.
"Basic institutions of government are being attacked and challenged in unprecedented ways. What it means to be an American. What it means to be part of the fourth estate is being challenged," he continued.
"Thank God for the work you've done recently on this, but the president is busy calling all of your legitimate work fake news to delegitimize what you're doing," Whitehouse said to New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters, whose newspaper has broken several stories about Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer where he was told he would receive compromising information on Hillary Clinton.
He went on to say that resisting the president meant standing up for American rights.
"It's not just a question of opposing Donald Trump when he does these things. It's a question of standing up for stuff that a lot of Americans bled and fought and died for over many generations," Whitehouse said, with co-host Mika Brzezinski adding "Yeah," affirmingly in the background.
"And the idea that this crowd in the White House gets to take that down is wrong," Whitehouse concluded.
"Absolutely," host Mika Brzezinski said.
UPDATED 11:38 A.M.: This article originally stated that Whitehouse made his remarks to "Morning Joe" when he actually directed them to the New York Times. This has been corrected.