CNN reporter Jim Acosta tried to take a dig at President Donald Trump during a press conference at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, this past weekend — but Trump effortlessly mocked him in return, leaving the room laughing.
Acosta, as he is wont to do, prefaced his question for the president with his own personal opinion.
He peppered it with just the right amount of bias for his liberal fans, too, in our view (some “journalist”).
“What is it with your coziness with some of these dictators and autocrats at these summits?” Acosta inquired. “With Mohammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, when you were asked about the case of Jamal Khashoggi — you did not respond to that question in front of the Saudi crown prince.”
“I don’t know that anybody asked me,” Trump responded.
That’s when Acosta served up this softball — which the president hit out of the park.
“Were you afraid of offending him on that subject?” Acosta asked.
“No, not at all,” Trump shot back. “I don’t really care about offending people. I sort of thought you’d know that.”
G20 Press Conference @realDonaldTrump gives @acosta a shot when asked whether he pressed MBS on Khashoggi
Acosta – are you afraid of offending him on that subject?
Pres. Trump: Not at all. I don’t really care about offending people. I sort of thought you would know that
BAM! pic.twitter.com/3HGef1NkiF
— Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) June 29, 2019
Owned again.
Trump then asked Acosta how his new book is doing.
The book, “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,” is Acosta’s latest work of fiction — and seems a rather ironic title considering he’s questioning the president about the murder of a Saudi Arabian journalist.
Acosta thinks it’s just as dangerous to be a reporter in Trump’s America as it is in the Middle East.
He responded to the president’s query by saying his book is doing great, to which a surprised Trump replied, “Really?”
No, not really.
At a surprise book signing recently, Acosta managed to push 30 copies off the shelves, while his book currently sits at 684th on the Amazon best-seller list.
Without missing a beat, Trump then motioned to the journalists in the room and said, “I get along with everybody — except you people, actually.”
Acosta and Trump have a rich history of going at each other in press conferences, with the former on the losing end so often that even his colleagues at CNN are ashamed.
“If we don’t have to talk about Jim Acosta, we don’t talk about Jim Acosta,” an employee of the network recently said when asked about the book.
“Mr. President, will you stop calling the press the enemy of the people,” CNN Journalist Jim Acosta shouted at the end of Trump’s speech pic.twitter.com/FqWT5afwUV
— POLITICO (@politico) June 29, 2018
Another colleague of Acosta’s, Steve Krakauer, a former senior digital producer for CNN, blasted him as “truly an embarrassment, on multiple levels,” complaining that Acosta “give(s) all good journalists a bad name.”
Acosta doesn’t need mockery from Trump, because he gets enough from his own peers.
But it sure is nice to hear anyway.
This piece originally appeared in The Political Insider and is used by permission.
Read more at ThePoliticalInsider.com:
Biden: First Thing I’d Do as President Is … Beat Trump?
Jimmy Carter Claims Trump Actually Lost in 2016
Watch: Trump Points at Putin and Jokes, ‘Don’t Meddle in the Election’
The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of LifeZette.
Join the Discussion
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.