The President and his questioner. Trump showing the utmost disrespect to @Acosta. Sarah Sanders is laughing out loud.
President Trump had a heated exchange with CNN’s Jim Acosta on Wednesday. The interchange ended on an angry note, as the president took a step towards Acosta and then said, “CNN should be ashamed of themselves having you work for them. You are a rude, terrible person.”
You can watch their interaction here:
After Peter Alexander defends Acosta, Trump turns on him too: “I’m not a big fan of yours either, to be honest.”
The CNN anchor peppered President Trump with questions, and the president appeared to get frustrated as Acosta refused to stop pressing. At one point, as Acosta tried to continue questioning the president about his views on migration, Trump said, “You know what? I think you should let me run the country, you run CNN. And if you did it well, maybe your ratings would improve.”
The Exchange Grew Heated as Acosta Pressed Trump about the Caravan of Migrants
Acosta asked Trump whether he believed that he — and his party — had “demonized” immigrants during the run-up to the midterm elections. “Not at all,” the president replied, explaining, “I want them to come in legally. I want them to come in through a process. And I want them to come in. We need the people.”
The president then tried to shift the narrative to talk about the economy. “You know why we need the people, right?” he asked Acosta. “We have hundreds of people coming in. We need the people.”
But Acosta wasn’t interested in talking about the economy; he returned to the issue of whether Trump, and the Republican party, had unfairly portrayed immigrants. Acosta said, “The Republicans had an ad that showed immigrants climbing walls…”
“Well, that’s true,” Trump replied, spreading his arms out. “They weren’t actors.” He added, “Do you think they were actors? They weren’t actors. They didn’t come from Hollywood.”
Acosta Refused to Surrender the Mic, Even as Trump Said ‘That’s Enough’ & a Woman Tried to Wrestle the Mic from his Hands
After the migration question, Trump told Acosta, “That’s enough.” But the CNN reporter wasn’t ready to stop. He started to ask another question, continuing to speak even as a woman walked up and tried to wrestle the microphone out of his hands. “That’s enough,” Trump said, again and again.
Acosta bowled forward, keeping his grip on the mic. “On the Russia investigation, are you concerned that you may have indictments?” he asked?
“I’m not concerned about anything,” said the president, his voice rising. “That’s enough. Put down the mic.” Trump took a step towards Acosta and then walked back to his podium.
Acosta, still undeterred, said, “Mr. President…”
That’s when Trump let loose. He said, “I’ll tell you what. CNN should be ashamed of itself, having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN.” The president added, “The way you treat people is horrible.”
The next questioner — Peter Alexander of NBC News — tried to defend Jim Acosta, calling him a “diligent reporter.” But Trump didn’t want to hear it. “I’m not a big fan of yours, either,” he told Alexander.