After numerous tense and well-publicized conflicts with President Trump over many months, Jim Acosta, CNN White House correspondent, is going to have to find a different place to take his arguments. That’s because he was just banned from the White House.
Things had really come unraveled during a press conference at the White House the day after the midterm elections. Acosta was asking Trump one question after the other, including inquiring about the large group of migrants that are headed toward the U.S. southern border in a caravan. Trump told Acosta he should let the president do his job.
“Honestly, I think you should let me run the country and you run CNN,” the president said during the exchange.
But Acosta would not back down. He insistently kept asking Trump questions. And Trump told Acosta “That’s enough!”
At that point, a young woman who works as an aide in the White House walked over to Acosta and attempted to take the microphone he was holding away from him. Unbelievably, Acosta held firmly onto the microphone and kept talking. As the woman attempted to wrestle the microphone away from him, he resisted and appeared to push her out of the way.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Acosta said to the woman. So, she gave up and crouched down near him. All of that happened in a matter of seconds, and Trump told Acosta to stop talking and give up the microphone. Meanwhile, Acosta was asking Trump about the Russia investigation. Trump said it was a hoax. He also had some terse words for Acosta.
“I’ll tell you what. CNN should be ashamed of themselves having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN,” Trump said.
Soon after, the woman was able to get the microphone and hand it to Peter Alexander of NBC, who chimed in on the situation immediately by vocally supporting Acosta.
“Well, I’m not a big fan of yours either, to be honest,” Trump responded.
Trump told Acosta, who was still trying to have the last word, to sit down. He then doubled down on what many in the mainstream media have called his most controversial position.
“When you report fake news, which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people.”
Later during the same day that all that mayhem unfolded this week, the White House suspended Acosta’s press pass. Sarah Sanders, White House Press Secretary, said on Twitter that Acosta’s press pass has been taken away “until further notice.”
No matter what those in the media think of Trump, they should at least treat him with respect and not try to outtalk him at news conferences. As Trump said, that is just rude and unprofessional.
Let’s not pretend that Acosta’s behavior is anything new. Ever since the CNN correspondent was allowed to be in the same room as President Trump, he has acted more like an activist than a journalist. His questions rarely touch on public policy, and instead focus on trivial matters such as Trump’s choice to refer to the Honduran migrant caravan as an “invasion.” He has also obsessed over the “Russiagate” investigation, despite there being no evidence to support it.
Acosta’s suspension from the White House is only temporary. But make no mistake, he and others like him will use this exchange as another rallying cry to portray President Trump as an anti-democratic dictator. Of course, no one seems to remember or care about how the Obama Administration treated Fox News, or any other alternative media outlet.
~ Liberty Planet
