CNN dunked on itself in a series of tweets in the aftermath of CNN reporter Jim Acosta touching a White House aide who tried to take his microphone away from him during a press conference this week.
“The White House announced tonight that it has revoked the press pass of CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta,” CNN Communications said in a statement. “It was done in retaliation for his challenging questions at today’s press conference. In an explanation, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lied. She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened [emphasis added]. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support.”
So, what were the accusations Sanders made against Acosta?
Sanders said that Acosta “plac[ed] his hands” on the young woman. Sanders never said that Acosta assaulted the her.
“President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration,” Sanders tweeted. “We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman [emphasis added] just trying to do her job as a White House intern…”
CNN Communications then tweeted out this video showing that Acosta did exactly what Sanders said he did:
Sanders claimed that Acosta touched the young woman. The video released by CNN Communications clearly shows that Acosta made contact with her as she attempted to take the microphone away from him after he turned yet another press briefing into a circus.
CNN claims that this “never happened.”
CNN is lying. Case closed.
Below are Sanders’ statements on the Acosta decision she issued over a series of tweets Wednesday:
President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration. We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern…
This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. 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.
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…
…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
As a result of today’s incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.
We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video.
In the last tweet, she provided video evidence of Acosta “placing his hands” on the intern:
Related:
WATCH: CNN’s Acosta Lies About Not Touching Aide, CNN Edits Video
CNN’s Claim That Sarah Sanders Pushed ‘Actual Fake News’ About Acosta Backfires