(CNN) On the evening of December 7, minutes after a local Indiana union leader, Chuck Jones, criticized Trump on CNN for falsely claiming that he had kept 1,100 Carrier jobs in the United States, Trump tweeted, "Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!" Since that tweet went out, some news organizations have reported that Jones has received death threats. A few days before, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg was quoted in the Chicago Tribune gently chiding Trump for being against trade. Muilenburg noted that trade is essential to the US economy, as reflected in the "large and growing percentage of our business" coming from international sales, including commercial jet orders from China.Robert Reich: Trump's tweets on union boss, Boeing, show unwillingness to take criticism; this poses danger to democracyReich: Democracy requires freedom to criticize those in power without fear of retribution. Fascists, dictators traffic in such fear
_ doesn't take kindly to anyone criticizing him -- not journalists (whom he refers to as "dishonest," "disgusting" and "scum" when they take him on), not corporate executives, not entertainers who satirize him, not local labor leaders, no one. _'s capricious use of power to denigrate and even endanger his critics must end.