The Trump White House is not buckling from CNN’s lawsuit over stripping reporter Jim Acosta of his precious hard pass. Acosta isn’t barred from the pressroom; he can still apply and obtain a day pass to the White House briefings. This is hardly a shutdown or a threat to press freedom. It all began the day after the 2018 midterms when President Trump held a press conference on the results. He answered questions, and to no one’s surprise, Acosta decided to pick a fight over the president describing the illegal alien caravan heading toward our southern border as an “invasion.”
By this point, Trump had had enough, telling Acosta to put down the microphone because he was moving on; Acosta continued to be a pain in the a**, even refusing to surrender the microphone when a White House aide tried to intervene. The aide, by the way, was doing her job. Then, the fireworks erupted.
“CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person; you shouldn’t be working for CNN,” Trump told Acosta.
In contentious exchange on migrant caravan, Russian investigation, Pres. Trump tells CNN's Jim Acosta, "I think you should let me run the country, you run CNN...Put down the mic."
— ABC News (@ABC) November 7, 2018
Acosta's colleague defended him: "He's a diligent reporter." https://t.co/QF15MHrJt2 pic.twitter.com/6B1H7CDfVz
That day, the White House yanked Acosta’s hard pass. CNN and the rest of the elite media hate Trump. They’re biased in their coverage, though they would never admit it (I’m proudly slanted and biased; you know what you’re getting coming here, folks), and it’s become a circus. The Hill’s Joe Concha aptly noted that Acosta isn’t a serious reporter, but a middle-aged man who thinks he’s on a high school debate team.
The Trump White House said CNN’s lawsuit was nothing but grandstanding—and that it has wide discretion in how it regulates its pressroom. In other words, go screw yourselves, CNN (via Politico):
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The White House on Wednesday said President Donald Trump has "broad discretion" to regulate journalists' access, formally responding to CNN's attempt to get a court to restore correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass.
CNN on Tuesday filed a lawsuit asking a judge to restore Acosta's credentials, which were revoked last week, and declare that the administration's action was unconstitutional. The White House pulled the reporter's access after he argued with the president over questions at a press conference and briefly refused to let a White House aide pull a microphone out of his hand.
"The President and White House possess the same broad discretion to regulate access to the White House for journalists (and other members of the public) that they possess to select which journalists receive interviews, or which journalists they acknowledge at press conferences," the White House said in its response to the suit Wednesday.
Legal experts are saying CNN has a strong case, and the judge presiding is one appointed by Trump. Now, should CNN win the case, it doesn’t matter. The point is that this White House delivered an uppercut to CNN and the elite media that hates them. In war, there are casualties. You can’t win all the time, but you have to fight back, especially against some of the sniveling little weasels that work at CNN. The media will have an ego stroke fest should CNN win the case, but the extent will only go as far as the door of their respective newsrooms. Out here, Trump’s base has already enjoyed the show, Acosta getting ripped…again.
Acosta has access to the White House, the same every other opinion writer or op-ed writer has. He remains a member of the press corps and he can apply for a daily WH press pass. The only thing he lost is a hard pass, which clears him daily w/o need for a day pass. https://t.co/BOMvAxJ1HS
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) November 13, 2018
This is a PR stunt by CNN & an ever-preening victim Acosta.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) November 13, 2018
My inbox is filled with flaks pitching stories on this.
It’s not about rights.
It’s about grandstanding.
It’s always been about grandstanding. https://t.co/BRgbh9N4qF
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