So, the cameras are back on and it didn’t take long for drama to erupt in the White House press room. The Trump administration recently announced a massive overhaul of our green card policy, which includes a language requirement and an emphasis on high skills. The latter part is similar to what Canada has with their immigration policy. Senior Aide Stephen Miller delivered remarks and took some questions, which led to an explosive exchange with CNN’s Jim Acosta. Acosta said the new policy goes against what America has stood for regarding immigration, citing The New Colossus poem as if it were law. Spoiler alert: It’s not.
The line of questioning from Acosta was fraught with liberal talking points intended to cause a scene. What’s going on here? Well, according to anonymous sources at CNN, it’s all part of an effort for him to get his own show on the network (via Washington Examiner):
Jim Acosta is suddenly one of CNN's most controversial figures even among some of his CNN colleagues, who say his public battles with the Trump administration are going too far.
One of Acosta's colleagues, an on-air conservative political commentator for CNN, said he sees an ulterior motive in Acosta's actions. He said Acosta's widely noticed clashes with the White House give the impression that he wants a new role at the network.
"He's angling to host an opinion show," he said. "These [White House] briefings are his auditions."
Another CNN employee in Washington, D.C. made it clear that Acosta's outbursts aren't as popular behind the scenes as CNN sometimes makes them out to be on the air.
"Ugh, just ugh," a producer told the Washington Examiner when asked about Acosta.
[…]
Before the age of Trump, Acosta was fairly ho-hum in terms of his reputation as a cable news reporter. He was mostly viewed as much of CNN was: undistinguished, perhaps even forgettable.
But since Trump won the election, both CNN and now Acosta have earned extra attention and scrutiny, in large part because the president finds a certain joy in taunting the network. And because Acosta represents CNN when it comes to covering White House, he is often singled out at briefings and press conferences.
Eddie Scarry, who wrote the article, also quoted another CNN producer saying, "Jim is a stunt dummy.”
Anonymous sources are American heroes right up until the moment they criticize sanctimonious journalists. pic.twitter.com/unnYEcbKAF
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) August 4, 2017
Needless to say, some in the media were not happy about these anonymous sources dishing dirt from within a liberal news network.
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