White House press secretary accused of sharing ‘doctored’ video of CNN reporter
WHITE House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been accused of sharing a fake video of CNN’s Jim Acosta, to justify suspending the reporter’s press access.
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WHITE House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has been savaged on Twitter, accused of sharing a “doctored” video of a CNN reporter’s interaction with an intern as he questioned President Trump.
The result of the heated exchange between CNN’s chief correspondent Jim Acosta and Donald Trump, led to the White House suspending the reporter’s press access “until further notice.”
Acosta had been questioning the president when things became fiery between the pair.
We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018
During their exchange, a White House intern tried to take the microphone from the reporter, but Acosta resisted and asked the president further questions.
Ms Sanders claims the White House suspension was a result of Acosta “placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern.”
She said the behaviour was “absolutely unacceptable.”
“As a result of today’s incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in her initial statement about Acosta’s suspension.
However members of the media have since banded together to accuse the Press Secretary of using doctored footage as evidence — which speeds up Acosta’s arm motion.
“We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behaviour clearly documented in this video,” Sanders tweeted alongside the allegedly doctored video.
CNN executive Matt’s Dornic responded to Sanders video saying it was “absolutely shameful.”
“You released a doctored video — actual fake news. History will not be kind to you,” he wrote.
Other members of the media claimed the video had been edited by far-right-wing website InfoWars.
The White House defended their use of the video, but did not confirm where it came from.
The question is: Did the reporter make contact or not? The video is clear, he did. We stand by our statement,” Sanders said.
Infowars denied the video had been sped up, but did say it was “zoomed in,” according to CNN.
The US Secret Service just asked for my credential to enter the WH. As I told the officer, I don’t blame him. I know he’s just doing his job. (Sorry this video is not rightside up) pic.twitter.com/juQeuj3B9R
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 8, 2018
Reporters granted a ‘hard pass’ — which Acosta had before suspension — are able to come and go from the media rooms of the White House as they please.
Now, Acosta will need his requests for access approved and be accompanied by a White House escort.
CNN has defended Acosta, saying the White House accusations are ‘lies’.
In days of yore, tweeting out a doctored video cribbed from Infowars would be resignation territory for a White House press secretary.
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) November 8, 2018
Now, it's just Thursday.
1) Took @PressSec Sarah Sanders' video of briefing
— Rafael Shimunov 🔥 (@rafaelshimunov) November 8, 2018
2) Tinted red and made transparent over CSPAN video
3) Red motion is when they doctored video speed
4) Sped up to make Jim Acosta's motion look like a chop
5) I've edited video for 15+ years
6) The White House doctored it pic.twitter.com/q6arkYSx0V
You can see Jim Acosta did not “grab†this woman. He refused to let her take the mic, & was so polite as to say “excuse me ma’am,†when he pulled away from her attempted mic grab. The White House is pushing doctored footage from InfoWars to blatantly lie & slander Acosta. Insane. https://t.co/9MVgV8MFxb
— Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush) November 8, 2018
“In (the) explanation, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lied. She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened”.
CNN says the revocation of Acosta’s press credentials was “done in retaliation for his challenging questions”.
“This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support”.
Sanders backed the decision saying: “It is also completely disrespectful to the reporter’s colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history.”
CNN responded to the altercation between Mr Acosta and the president, saying Mr Trump’s attacks on the press had “gone too far”.
“They are not only dangerous, they are disturbingly un-American. While President Trump has made it clear he does not respect a free press, he has a sworn obligation to protect it. A free press is vital to democracy, and we stand behind Jim Acosta and his fellow journalists everywhere.”
As a result of today’s incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018
Contrary to CNN’s assertions there is no greater demonstration of the President’s support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters...
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018
...over the course of 1.5 hours including several from the reporter in question. The fact that CNN is proud of the way their employee behaved is not only disgusting, it‘s an example of their outrageous disregard for everyone, including young women, who work in this Administration
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018
Aide attempts to seize the mic from Jim Acosta pic.twitter.com/w8UcXZuGUU
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) November 7, 2018
TRUMP V ACOSTA
Waving his finger, Mr Trump berated Mr Acosta. “You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN,” he said.
When challenged about a using the word ‘invasion’ in relation to a migrant caravan of Central American immigrants, Mr Trump interjected — saying “here we go”.
When Mr Trump turned to ask another journalist to offer a question, Acosta temporarily resisted handing over the microphone.
CNN producer Allie Malloy said: “This is a complete lie. The woman grabbed Jim’s arm repeatedly. He never once touched her. In fact at one point Acosta tells her politely ‘pardon me, mam’ as she’s yanking on his arm.”
White House aide grabs and tries to physically remove a microphone from CNN Correspondent Jim Acosta during a contentious exchange with President Trump at a news conference. https://t.co/ogHhRsO0AI pic.twitter.com/WZbbP5Jwq5
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 8, 2018
I was seated next to â¦@Acostaâ© at today’s press conference and did not witness him “placing his hands†on the young intern, as the White House alleges. He held on to the microphone as she reached for it. The â¦@Reutersâ© pictures below depict what happened accurately. pic.twitter.com/nO68Hf4eQM
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) November 8, 2018
The news conference had lasted close to 90 minutes. During it, Mr Trump cast congressional election results as “very close to complete victory” for Republicans and said he could negotiate easier on some issues with Democrats, anyway.
“It’s such a hostile media,” Mr Trump said after ordering reporter April Ryan of the American Urban Radio Networks to sit down when she tried to ask him a question.
Then reporters pushed him on whether his campaign rhetoric on migrants from Central America was divisive — and on developments in a federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Trump aggressively pushed back.
“CNN should be ashamed of itself, having you working for them,” Mr Trump told Mr Acosta.
Mr Trump laid into the CNN star — the latest in a long history of testy exchanges between the pair — after Mr Acosta refused his orders to sit down and give up the microphone during a press conference.
Mr Trump appeared ready to walk out as Mr Acosta clung to the microphone and persisted with questions about the president’s views on a caravan of Central American migrants making its way to the US border.
"You are a rude, terrible person!"
— Jason K. Morrell (@CNNJason) November 7, 2018
"Sit down!"
Trump becomes unglued at presser with @CNN's @Acosta pic.twitter.com/qVr58A8aIF
When asked if he had “demonised immigrants” during the midterms campaign, Mr Trump replied: “No, I want them to come into the country. But they have to come in legally.”
Acosta persisted, saying: “They are hundreds of miles away. That is not an invasion.”
At that point, the president snapped.
“Honestly, I think you should let me run the country. You run CNN, and if you did it well, your ratings would be higher,” Mr Trump said.
As the reporter continued, Mr Trump declared: “That’s enough, put down the mic” and walked away from his own podium, as if leaving.
‘ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE’
When NBC reporter Peter Alexander took the mic for the next question, he defended Acosta as a “diligent reporter” — earning Mr Trump’s ire.
“I’m not a fan of yours either. To be honest. You aren’t the best,” he said.
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At that point, Mr Acosta stood back up and mentioned, without a microphone, the explosive devices that had been sent to CNN and some of the president’s political opponents.
“Just sit down,” Mr Trump replied. “When you report fake news, which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people.”
I'm simply asking the questions the public wants to know. https://t.co/bZ1cZVBKhd
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 7, 2018
"I'm one who really likes free speech," says Trump, in the same press conference in which he ordered numerous reporters to sit down and stop asking questions.
— Jackson Proskow (@JProskowGlobal) November 7, 2018
But it didn’t end there. To PBS NewsHour’s Yamiche Alcindor, who asked him about white nationalists being emboldened by Mr Trump labelling himself a “nationalist”, Mr Trump said he was insulted.
“That’s such a racist question,” Mr Trump said. “To say that, what you said, is so insulting to me,” he said. “It’s a very terrible thing you said to me.”
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