CNN lashed out on Wednesday at the White House for their move to pull the press credentials from its Chief White House Correspondent, Jim Acosta. They accused White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders of making “fraudulent accusations.”
The statement from CNN came just moments after the Trump administration announced that it had suspended Acosta’s press credentials and claimed that he became physical with a young female intern during his exchange with the president.
Tonight the White House revoked @Acosta’s press pass. CNN’s response to @PressSec and @realDonaldTrump: pic.twitter.com/EY2iFLvP3P
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 8, 2018
Sanders focused on Acosta’s refusal to hand a microphone to an intern who tried to take it from him as he asked a question of the president. She claimed that Acosta’s conduct was unacceptable.
“Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lied,” CNN said in a statement. “She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support.”
At the news conference, Trump became visibly frustrated with Acosta’s questioning about a migrant caravan.
“OK, that’s enough,” Trump interrupted, as Acosta attempted to ask another question. The president went on to call Acosta “a rude, terrible person” and said “CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them.”
Footage of Acosta and the president’s interaction shows a White House intern trying to take a microphone from the reporter. Acosta refused to give it up and his hand appeared to touch the intern’s arm during the exchange.
“We will never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern,” Sanders said.
Acosta, in a tweet, called Sanders’s claim a lie.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Olivier Knox called the move “out of line to the purported offense and is unacceptable.”
“We urge the White House to immediately reverse this weak and misguided action,” added Knox. “We encourage anyone with doubts that this reaction was disproportionate to the perceived offense to view the video of the events from earlier today.”
“We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass,” Sanders said. “We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video.”
We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018
Credit: The Hill