Jim Acosta: Trump Supporters 'Don't Have All Their Faculties'
CNN’s Jim Acosta accused Americans of lacking the mental capacity to see through President Donald Trump’s “act.”
In a taped interview with Variety, Acosta laments this lack of awareness and understanding, of which he obviously believes he is not guilty.
“The problem is that people around the country don’t know it’s an act,” Acosta said. “They’re not in on the act and they take what he says very seriously, and they take attacks from Sean Spicer and Sarah Sanders and what they do to us on a daily basis very seriously.”
“They don’t have all their faculties in some cases — their elevator might not hit all floors,” he added. “My concern is that a journalist is gonna get hurt one of these days.”
Acosta contended Trump’s rhetoric will be to blame.
“The moment that a journalist gets hurt in the United States of America because of rhetoric coming from the president of the United States, we have suddenly become something less than the United States,” he concluded.
CNN colleague April Ryan agreed.
“Sarah (Huckabee Sanders), anyone in there in the administration who is calling the media fake is throwing gasoline on the fire,” she said.
In January 2017, Trump labeled CNN and Buzzfeed as purveyors of “fake news” regarding their reporting of the unsubstantiated Trump Russia dossier.
Trump specifically told Acosta, “You are fake news,” when the reporter continued to try to interrupt a news conference immediately following the release of the dossier.
The White House released its Fake News Awards this past January, listing the top 11 stories, in which the administration claims the media got their facts wrong.
CNN scored the most mentions, followed by the New York Times, with ABC News, Time and Newsweek each earning spots, as well.
Acosta has taken a very combative posture toward the president and his press team, which he alluded to in his Variety interview, saying, “It is a great time to be a journalist, because of the challenge you’re up against.”
During an exchange with Trump in January, Acosta strongly implied Trump was a racist to his face in a question about immigration.
“Just Caucasian or white countries or do you want people to come in from other parts of the world where there are people of color?” the reporter asked.
Trump had just stated, “I want them to come in from everywhere, everywhere.”
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