On Tuesday, CNN and the network’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump. However, it wasn’t long before White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders shut the insolent reporter up with just five simple words.
On Tuesday, CNN and the network’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the president’s chief of staff John Kelly, the Secret Service, and several aides over the suspension of Acosta’s hard press pass.
“This severe and unprecedented punishment is the culmination of years of hostility by President Trump against CNN and Acosta based on the contents of their reporting—an unabashed attempt to censor the press and exclude reporters from the White House who challenge and dispute the President’s point of view,” CNN’s lawyers wrote in the complaint that was filed in D.C. District Court.
The president “lacks the authority to quash” the First Amendment, the lawyers wrote, and access to the White House cannot be denied arbitrarily.
According to the lawsuit, CNN and Acosta aim to “enforce this constitutional commitment, restore Acosta’s well-deserved press credentials, and ensure that the press remains free to question the government and to report the business of the nation to the American people.” [Source: ABC News]
Despite CNN’s aggressive maneuver, however, the White House seems to be particularly unmoved. Press secretary Sarah Sanders was having none of it, and she made sure to let Acosta know that he is “no more or less special” than any other reporter. “This is just more grandstanding from CNN, and we will vigorously defend against this lawsuit,” Sanders responded on Tuesday.
“CNN, who has nearly 50 additional hard pass holders, and Mr. Acosta is no more or less special than any other media outlet or reporter with respect to the First Amendment,” Sanders added. “After Mr. Acosta asked the President two questions — each of which the President answered — he physically refused to surrender a White House microphone to an intern, so that other reporters might ask their questions. This was not the first time this reporter has inappropriately refused to yield to other reporters.”
“The White House cannot run an orderly and fair press conference when a reporter acts this way, which is neither appropriate nor professional,” Sanders continued. “The First Amendment is not served when a single reporter, of more than 150 present, attempts to monopolize the floor. If there is no check on this type of behavior it impedes the ability of the President, the White House staff, and members of the media to conduct business.”
The decision to suspend Jim Acosta’s press pass was made last week after the reporter sparred with President Donald Trump during a briefing at the White House:
CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass to access the White House was suspended “until further notice” Wednesday, hours after he engaged in a contentious back-and-forth with President Trump. “I’ve just been denied entrance to the WH,” Acosta tweeted Wednesday night. “Secret Service just informed me I cannot enter the WH grounds for my 8pm hit.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed Acosta’s tweet in a statement, claiming the suspension of his press credentials stemmed from his “placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern.” She called the behavior “absolutely unacceptable.”
The CNN reporter, during a news conference at the White House earlier Wednesday, got into a heated debate with Trump after he asked the president about the migrant caravan. Trump told Acosta to let him do his job. “Honestly, I think you should let me run the country and you run CNN,” the president said. [Source: Fox News]
Jim Acosta has made a mockery of true journalism. His job is to report the story, not become the story, but his hatred for President Donald Trump was too strong for him to ignore. His massive ego wouldn’t allow him to give up the microphone at Trump’s request and allow another reporter time to speak.
The White House tolerated him longer than they should have, and this lawsuit will end badly for the “very fake news” network. SHARE this article with your friends if you support President Donald Trump’s decision to ban Jim Acosta.
