On Friday, when Dr. Deborah Birx, an immunologist who serves as the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, was detailing the federal effort to battle the deadly disease, CNN reporter Jim Acosta interrupted her in what some are calling a “mansplaining” episode.
Dr. Birx was asked what percentage of the population are asymptomatic at this point, and in her answer she segued into “who knew what when.”
“We can talk about why didn’t Italy do something or Spain do something or Germany do something, or we can really say right now — we all can do something,” Dr. Birx siad. “We can do the social distancing and all of the pieces that we know is starting to work around the globe in country after country. And then when we get through all of this, we can ask the questions about could we have done some piece of this better as a global community.”
“And then, when we get through all of this, we can ask the questions about, ‘Could we have done some piece of this better as a global community? I will remind you that on February 3rd, the head of the [World Health Organization] said there was no reason to ever do a travel ban. You know, it wasn’t until January 14th that we knew that there was human-to-human transmission. Remember —
That’s when “expert” Acosta interrupted.
“Dr. Birx, the President was saying this was going to go away. It’s April.”
President Trump said: “It is going to go away. It is going away.”
Acosta persisted: “The President — But, Mr. President, you said it was going to go away in April.”
“It’s going — I didn’t say a date,” Trump said.
Acosta: “You said, ‘When it warmed up in April.’
Trump: ‘I said it’s going away and it is going away.’
Some accused Acosta of attempting to “mansplain” to the female medical expert.
“‘Dear Diary: While I’m no expert, I tried #Mansplaining to an expert medical expert named Dr. Birx. @Acosta,'” former CNN commentator Paris Dennard wrote.
Dear Diary:
While I’m no expert, I tried #Mansplaining to an expert medical expert named Dr. Birx.” @Acosta https://t.co/fLuOLOF7LZ— PARIS (@PARISDENNARD) April 3, 2020
“@Acosta just tried to mansplain to Dr. Birx,” GOP national spokeswoman Elizabeth Harrington tweeted.
.@Acosta just tried to mansplain to Dr. Birx
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) April 3, 2020
George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley also hit the grandstanding CNN reporter. “Jim Acosta’s interruption of Dr. Birx is an example of how CNN’s echo-journalism model is destroying the media’s credibility. Every question from Acosta is an effort to score points rather than elicit information. It is a press pandemic that continues to rage without relief.”
Jim Acosta's interruption of Dr. Birx is an example of how CNN's echo-journalism model is destroying the media's credibility. Every question from Acosta is an effort to score points rather than elicit information. It is a press pandemic that continues to rage without relief.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) April 3, 2020
Journalist Erielle Davidson wrote, “Acosta asking why this pandemic wasn’t predicted is probably the most foolish ‘gotcha’ question I’ve seen. This situation is extraordinary. And these questions are massively unhelpful. My Lord.”
Acosta asking why this pandemic wasn’t predicted is probably the most foolish “gotcha” question I’ve seen. This situation is extraordinary. And these questions are massively unhelpful. My Lord.
— Erielle Davidson (@politicalelle) April 3, 2020
Said radio host Mark Simone: “Has everyone noticed that CNN’s fake news idiot Jim Acosta has asked the exact same dumb gotcha question every day at the press briefing. Lazy and irresponsible. No wonder even the White House Correspondents Association President called him a clown.”
Has everyone noticed that CNN's fake news idiot Jim Acosta has asked the exact same dumb gotcha question every day at the press briefing. Lazy and irresponsible. No wonder even the White House Correspondents Association President called him a clown.
— MARK SIMONE (@MarkSimoneNY) April 3, 2020
Acosta is well known for “peacocking” during Trump briefings, but even his liberal colleagues find it annoying. In his new book, ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl criticized Acosta, accusing him of “playing into the explicit Trump strategy of portraying the press as the opposition party.”
“The surest way to undermine the credibility of the White House press corps is to behave like the political opposition,” Karl wrote. “Don’t give speeches from the White House briefing room.”