Here’s an interesting conversation between Nixon and Kissinger on December 14, 1972:

Conversation Among President Nixon, the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), and the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Haig)

Nixon: What I meant is, at the time—what I’m talking about is are we going to have enough time? All these assholes in the press said we were wrong. Now, at the present time, the press will say, “We’re quite aware we’re very, very close to peace, and d-d-d-d-d.” They were wrong, and so when it turns the other way, they’re going to say, “Peace has escaped d-d-d-d-d,” and they’re going to be wrong again. And it isn’t going to make a goddamn bit of difference. My point is, you’ve got to remember who the enemy are. The enemy has never changed. The election didn’t change it. The only friends we’ve got, Henry, are a few people of rather moderate education out in this country, and thank God, they’re about 61 percent of the people, who support us. The left-wingers, most of your friends, and most—and many of mine—

Kissinger: Some friends of mine—

Nixon: —are against us.

Kissinger: I’m using the left-wingers, Mr. President—

Nixon: Yeah. They’re all through with us, though—

Kissinger: I—

Nixon: —and we’re through with them.

Kissinger: I have—

Nixon: They don’t even know. They don’t know what’s going to hit them, we believe.

Kissinger: I have no illusions about the left-wingers. Those sons-of-bitches are [unclear]—

Nixon: Well, they’re so tawdry, right? Now, let’s come down to where we’ve got to go.

… [conversation continues] …

Nixon: … And also, never forget, the press is the enemy.

Kissinger: On that, there’s no question—

Nixon: The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy. Professors are the enemy. Write that on the blackboard 100 times and never forget it.

Kissinger: I, on the professors—

Nixon: Always—

Kissinger: —I need no instruction at all.

Nixon: Always—

Kissinger: And on the press, I’m in complete agreement with you—

Nixon: It’s the enemy. So we use them, at times. But remember, with the exception, now and then, of a—I think Wilson, maybe—there are two or three—Howard Smith. Yes, there are still a few patriots, but most of them are—they’re very disappointed because we beat ’em in the election. They know they’re out of touch with the country. It kills those bastards. They are the enemy, and we’re just gonna continue to use them, and never let them think that we think they’re the enemy. You see my point? But the press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. That’s all.

Thanks for reading,

Notes:

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume IX, Vietnam, October 1972–January 1973

Conversation Among President Nixon, the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger), and the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Haig)

https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v09/d175