President Donald Trump commented on CNN reporter Jim Acosta, who broached White House etiquette on Nov. 8, when he refused to give up a microphone after asking four questions and touching a female White House intern.
Taking questions on Friday before traveling to France, Trump said Acosta is “a very unprofessional man.”
“He gets paid to do that, he gets paid to burst in,” Trump said, referring to how Acosta regularly bases his questions to White House officials around opinions, as he did on Thursday when he claimed that the migrant caravan “is not an invasion” without offering evidence.
“I consider it an invasion, you and I have a difference of an opinion,” Trump responded. Acosta then opined that the president may have “demonized immigrants,” which the president disagreed with.
Trump on Acosta: "He's a very unprofessional guy…I don't think he's a smart person, but he's got a loud voice." pic.twitter.com/kcq6kmwiUK
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) November 9, 2018
In another infamous case, Acosta told White House official Stephen Miller that preference shouldn’t be given to immigrants who know English, even though that’s already a requirement for naturalization. Acosta seemed to think that only immigrants from a few countries speak English.
“I don’t think he’s a smart person, but he’s got a loud voice,” Trump said on Nov. 9.
Acosta’s hard pass, which enabled him to report inside the White House, was taken away on Thursday night. Sarah Sanders, the press secretary, said it was suspended “until further notice.”
Trump said he wasn’t sure if the removal would be permanent. “I haven’t made that decision, but it could be others also,” he said. “When you’re in the White House, this is a very sacred place to me, this is a very special place. You have to treat the White House with respect, you have to treat the presidency with respect.”
Neither Acosta nor CNN apologized for his physical contact with the female intern, and both falsely claimed that Acosta did not touch her despite video evidence showing he did.
Trump added that Acosta’s treatment of Sanders “is a disgrace.”
Trump also slammed CNN contributor April Ryan, calling her a loser.
“She’s very nasty, and she shouldn’t be,” he said. Ryan stood up and shouted a question during the Nov. 8 press conference without being called on, interrupting the reporter who had been called on. Her history of questions includes asking Sanders if Trump ever considered resigning and if he thinks slavery was wrong.
