CNN's Jim Acosta has made a household name for himself – and not in a good way. He has become the face of "fake news" and shoddy reporting. He's really great at breaking rules and pretending he's somehow the victim. Does his press pass being revoked for pushing an intern ring a bell? He's now using his experiences to write a "tell-all" type of book about what it's like reporting on the Trump administration.
Acosta is releasing his new book, "The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America," on Tuesday. Immediately, people noticed something about the cover:
You do realize you just had a book published that reads: “Jim Acosta: Enemy of the People,” right?
— Montgomery Granger (@mjgranger1) June 9, 2019
I am NOT trying to make a political statement or comment on the media, but did no one catch how the spine of this book reads?
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) June 9, 2019
The Enemy of the People what looks to be a dash from far away, & then in bigger, bolder letters the name JIM ACOSTA?
I thought it was photoshopped. https://t.co/3QSvr0Drcz
At least he’s realizing he’s the enemy of the people.
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) June 9, 2019
Clearly whoever designed this jacket didn’t think things through. https://t.co/FOPplcdwfX
Acosta kicked off his book promotion by discussing the book with Brian Stelter on Sunday morning. The two discussed why Acosta felt compelled to write the book and what it means to be a journalist in America today.
"I wanted to send a message to folks who really care about what we do and the message is basically this: I did not want my children to grow up in a country where the press is called 'the enemy of the people.' Brian, you and I have grown up in a country where the last several decades here where Republicans and Democrats wanted to be in power in Washington but they didn't demonize us to this extent. I think it's gotten– I think it started off as an act based off my reporting," Acosta explained.
"The president threw out 'fake news' and 'the enemy of the people' at the beginning of the people, just sort of to taunt and troll us and that is, essentially, gotten out of control. Now it's gotten to the point where some of his supports, some of his supporters are – many of them are wonderful people – some of his supporters feel it's okay to lash out at us in ways that I think put as in danger," Acosta said. "And I think we have to pause, hit the pause button and think deeply about whether or not this is the kind of country we hand off to our kids."
"Some of your critics say if it really was a dangerous time to tell the truth in America, you wouldn't be able tow rite a book about it. What do you say to them?" Stelter asked.
"Well, I don't want it to become a more dangerous time and as you and I both know, Brian, we had a pipe bomb delivered to CNN's headquarters last fall. As I lay out in this book, I have received a number of death threats. I'm not the only one. A number of reporters and news anchors who cover this president on a daily basis have received death threats," Acosta explained.
"And, you know, we never know how serious they are. It could be people just venting off their frustrations and I get that. We all get mad about what we see on the news on a daily basis... And the question is whether or not somebody crosses that line and does something that hurts somebody or, perhaps, kills a journalist," Acosta said.
"And as I write in the book, Brian, I think at that point we cross over into a different era for the United States, where we join a list of other countries around the world where the press is not safe to do their jobs," Acosta concluded. "We just can't do that. We cannot do that. We cannot take that step. It's far slippier slope than we've possibly imagine at this point."
CNN’s Jim @Acosta on his new book about President Trump and the media: “I wanted to send a message to folks who really care about what we do, and the message is basically this: I did not want my children to grow up in a country where the press is called the enemy of the people.” pic.twitter.com/64UBnpSJUC
— Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) June 9, 2019
Conservatives reminded him of a few very valid points:
it is *such* a dangerous time to tell the truth in America that he just published an entire book on the matter, is tweeting about, and is now going on national television to sell it. https://t.co/ndcBGp9v9D
— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) June 9, 2019
The new rule, by @Acosta @brianstelter and @CNN:
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) June 9, 2019
Saying the President is a puppet of Russia: cool
Saying the Republicans want to kill people with their health plan: cool
Saying Trump is like Hitler: cool
Saying fake news is the enemy of the people: a threat to democracy https://t.co/fKmfAVHulA
The book hasn't even been released yet and people are sick to their stomachs about it because of the author and his past actions. Jim Acosta is symbolic of a greater problem in American journalism today. He disguises himself as being "unbiased" and a "defender of the truth" but all he's really doing is using his supposedly fair and balanced position to push his political agenda. He can never simply ask a question at a press briefing and sit down. He has to make some kind of scene as a means of provoking President Trump or Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He pushes their buttons over and over and over in hopes that they snap. He does this to create a story. Acosta is so focused on making everything about him that he can't report the news. His goal is to become the news.
Acosta met his match with President Trump. While other presidents focus on being "presidential" and diplomatic, Trump is focused on the truth. The traditional rules of covering politicians went out the window when Trump became president. He's not afraid to call anyone, including Acosta, out on their shenanigans.
The worst part of what Acosta had to say in his interview with Stelter is that he feels unsafe. There are journalists around the world who are reporting in the Middle East, on terrorist organizations, like ISIS, and Acosta has the audacity to say he's scared? That takes away from the important work actual journalists are doing in war zones.
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