President Trump’s White House press conference on Thursday was Round Two of his battle with CNN’s Jim Acosta.
It was supposed to be a presser for Trump to announce his new labor secretary nominee, which he did, but he spent a much longer time criticizing the media for their continued “fake news” coverage. In particular, he was incensed that multiple outlets were reporting false information about leaks coming out of the White House.
At CNN, Trump said, “there is so much hatred and anger” toward him that he just can’t understand.
Seeing Acosta shake his head at his remarks, Trump said, “it’s okay, Jim, you’ll get your chance,” meaning he’d soon call on him for a question. “The public doesn’t believe you people anymore,” he frankly told Acosta and his network. Acosta, in response, told Trump that he nor CNN hates him and proceeded to ask his questions.
“Are you undermining people’s faith in the First Amendment” and the news media, he wondered.
“I know when I should get bad media,” Trump said, disagreeing and noting that CNN airs bad news every single night. Trump then asked CNN to do some self reflection. He told them to honestly consider not airing such anti-Trump news every night, and they’ll see their ratings rise. “If you told it like it is, I would be your biggest booster.” This was at least the second time Trump has butted heads with Acosta at a press conference. Last month, the president-elect dismissed Acosta as “fake news” and refused to answer his question. Trump had plenty of other mini battles with reporters at Thursday’s conference, which resulted in a very entertaining hour.
