MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said Monday on “Deadline” that freedom of the press could end if former President Donald Trump wins re-election in November.

Wallace said, “The annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner is one of the symptoms, one of the signs of a healthy, functioning democracy.”

She continued, “It’s a coming together and, at its core, the president doing everything right celebrates and honors the free press. Behind the levity, though, there was something darker, a darker undercurrent, if you will, and a point that the president had to make. And it was more profoundly serious. Because at this exact time next year, depending on what happens in November, seven months from now, we can’t say for certain that there would even be a White House Correspondents’ Dinner or even a free press or even a White House press corps. Right? You don’t have to have one. Could be another norm Trump blows up.”

Wallace added, “Depending what happens in November, seven months from right now, this time next year, I might not be sitting here. There might not be a White House Correspondents’ Dinner or free press. And while our democracy won’t exactly fall apart immediately without it, the real threat looms larger. A candidate with outward disdain not just for a free press, but for all of our freedoms and for the rule of law itself.”

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