President Trump manhandled CNN’s Jim Acosta at a wild press conference Wednesday following the midterm elections.
Asked if he felt his characterization of the migrant caravan as an “invasion” demonized all immigrants, Trump responded he indeed believed the group making its way through Mexico toward the US to be an “invasion,” and reiterated there is a legal way to seek US citizenship.
FULL EXCHANGE: Trump vs. @Acosta
"Put down the mic…"
"You are a rude, terrible person…" pic.twitter.com/hdnNGd2xLc— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) November 7, 2018
“I want them to come in to the country, but they have to come in legally. You know they have to come in, Jim, through a process. I want it to be a process. And I want people to come in, and we need the people. You know why we need the people, don’t you? Because we have hundreds of companies moving in. We need the people,” Trump answered.
Acosta next asked the president about a campaign ad showing members of the migrant caravan scaling fences and tearing through the Guatemala border into Mexico.
“Well, that’s true, they weren’t actors. Do you think they were actors? They didn’t come from Hollywood. These were people.”
“They’re hundreds of miles away,” Acosta shot back. “They’re hundreds and hundreds of miles away – that’s not an invasion.”
RELATED: MEDIA SIDES WITH ACOSTA AFTER PHYSICAL CONFRONTATION WITH FEMALE WHITE HOUSE STAFFER
“Honestly, I think you should let me run the country. You run CNN. And if you did it well, your ratings would be much better,” Trump concluded before trying to take another question from a different reporter.
As usual, Acosta didn’t let Trump get the last word, and proceeded to struggle with a woman who tried to take the mic from him, prompting the president to dress down the CNN White House correspondent in front of his peers.
Did @Acosta just shove a woman during the press conference so he could keep holding onto the microphone and talking? Incredible.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 7, 2018
Trump to CNN's Jim Acosta: "When you report fake news, which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people." pic.twitter.com/HSJQHzAZIK
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 7, 2018
“I’m not concerned about anything with the Russian investigation because it’s a hoax. That’s enough, put down the mic,” the president told Acosta, who continued attempting to ask questions.
“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.”
“You’re a very rude person,” the president continued, speaking over a stammering Acosta. “The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible, and the way you treat other people are horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way.”
Going back to Acosta after he refused to give up the mic, Trump added, “When you report fake news, which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people.”
As entertaining as the exchanges are, Acosta’s continuous sparring matches with the president only serve to drive a deeper wedge between the press and the Trump administration. His frequent antics have made him a darling of the Trump resistance, where his palpable disrespect for the office of the president are viewed as courageous, hard-hitting journalism.
Responding to the incident, CNN released a statement condemning the president’s “attacks” as “dangerous” and “disturbingly Un-American.”
CNN released a statement responding to the Trump's attacks on the network and Jim Acosta: "This president’s ongoing attacks on the press have gone too far. They are not only dangerous, they are disturbingly un-American." Read full statement: https://t.co/ePDjoBhmEn
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) November 7, 2018
Watch the entire press conference:
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