Leading up to President Trump’s “Fake News Awards” planned for today (TBD on if they’re still happening), some Republican senators had the courage to actually stand up against these troubling anti-democratic smears. But one senator who definitely did not was Nevada GOP Sen. Dean Heller. Instead, Heller’s been taking a page out of the Trump playbook – attacking the free press and dodging reporters as much as humanly possible.

• Heller adopted the #FakeNews hashtag multiple times on Twitter.

• Heller said ABC, CBC, NBC, and the Reno Gazette-Journal “all go down to the DNC first thing in the morning” for their talking points.

• Reno Public Radio claimed Heller ignored them and wasn’t “talking to anyone in the press.”

• Jon Ralston: Heller has been refusing to talk to the Nevada Independent because his feelings were hurt over Ralston’s coverage.

• POLITICO reporter Burgess Everett: Heller said he would not talk to POLITICO as long as Jon Ralston was a contributor.

• POLITICO said Heller rarely speaks to reporters and actively avoids the media in the Capitol.

• November 2013: Ralston blasted Heller’s official staff as having the “maturity and professionalism of high schoolers” for ignoring his emails and removing him from the Nevada media email list.

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