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Another Label We Shouldn't Use: 'Political Enemies'

By Mark Memmott

Published October 29, 2018 at 11:18 AM EDT

The definition of the word "enemy" begins this way: "A person who hates another, and wishes or tries to injure him."

We do not need to add to the loaded language of the day by referring to those on one side as the "political enemies" of those they oppose. Not only does that add to the heated rhetoric, it adopts a label that one side wants to put on the other — something we should not do.

Better words to use include "opponents" and "critics."

Mark Memmott

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.

See stories by Mark Memmott