Attack on the press: White House revokes CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s credentials after furious exchange with Trump and false accusation that Acosta touched a White House aide
Acosta row triggered social media, exposed Sarah Sanders lie (theguardian.com)White House Press Secretary Sanders used a doctored Infowars video to justify banning Acosta (wlrn.org)
The White House is revoking the credential pass of CNN reporter Jim Acosta hours after a fiery exchange at a press conference.
Acosta has long been a bitter adversary of the White House. The Hispanic American reporter works for the rolling news channel that has been a particular focus of ire for the administration. CNN has been the network most closely associated with the “fake news” slur, which the president has used consistently to undermine public confidence in the media.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Acosta was trying to challenge Trump over the president’s scare-mongering about the so-called “caravan” of migrants making their way through Mexico.
When Trump tried to brush him off, Acosta refused to surrender a microphone provided by the White House, while trying to ask Trump another question. A female staffer tried to take it from him and Acosta held on. Trump went on to call the reporter “a rude, terrible person”.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced around 8 p.m. that she was suspending Acosta’s hard pass, which allows him to enter the White House without supervision.
“President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration. We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporter’s colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history,” she said in a statement.
That claim by Slanders… er, Sanders is an outright lie:
Slowed down the @Acosta encounter to show the FOUR times the White House staffer touched HIM… not the other way around. Unclear if she's been suspended. pic.twitter.com/gBhlR2r5P1
— Sarah Burris (@SarahBurris) November 8, 2018
Both the intern and Sanders should be fired.
But they won’t.