The United States Secret Service took away CNN’s Jim Acosta’s “hard pass” late on Wednesday after the professional provocateur pulled another obnoxious stunt during a White House press conference.
“I’ve just been denied entrance to the WH. Secret Service just informed me I cannot enter the WH grounds for my 8pm hit,” Acosta wrote on Twitter.
“President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a tweet. “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.”
“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,” Sanders continued. “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.”
When Acosta showed up to the White House the Secret Service took his credentials.
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“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,” Sanders continued. “As a result of today’s incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.”
Acosta responded to Sanders’ tweets by claiming it was a “lie.”
Video evidence of the incident shows that Acosta is the one lying, as he clearly touched the young woman, as Sanders correctly stated.
The reaction on Twitter was mixed with some people coming to his defense while others saw the White House’s actions as being warranted.
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