CNN anchor Jim Acosta heralded the incoming Trump administration with an on-air message that the media is “not the enemy of the people.”
During a CNN segment on Thursday, the liberal journalist — best known for… His explosions As White House correspondent during Trump's first term – he delivered a monologue about the importance of news media to democracy after President Biden warned that “the free press is collapsing” in his farewell speech.
Acosta seemed to suggest that democracy would be under assault during a second Trump term and referred to Trump's “enemy of the people” criticism of the press. Acosta even He wrote a memoir that was not well received Using those words in the title.
“We are not enemies of the people. We are defenders of the people. Freedom of the press is not only important to democracy,” Walter Cronkite once said. “It's democracy,” Acosta declared in a clip first shared on X. By NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck.
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CNN anchor Jim Acosta reminded his viewers a few days before Trump's inauguration that the media is “not the enemy of the people.”
During the segment, the presenter mentioned a line from Biden's farewell speech on Wednesday regarding threats to the press.
“He warned that the free press is collapsing in this country. And I would add that only if we the people allow it to happen,” Acosta said.
The broadcaster continued, stressing the importance of journalists in protecting the truth.
“Journalists exist to seek the truth, to tell people’s stories, to lift up voices that may not otherwise be heard, to highlight injustice and hold the powerful accountable,” he said.
He concluded the segment by pulling out a pink marker that he claimed was given to him by an anti-Trump protester during Trump's first term.
“I want to take a moment to show you something. A woman sent me this sign eight years ago. I carried it here at the march in Washington. And she wrote on the back of the sign for me and the press here in D.C., 'You have our support.'
He appeared to be referring to the far-left Women's March in Washington and across the country that first greeted Trump when he took office in 2017.
The text on the sign read: “I march for Jim Acosta and the Free Press.”
“To Nora, wherever you are, I'm coming right back to you,” he said. “I'm Jim Acosta, reporting from Washington.”
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CNN anchor Jim Acosta has been known for his hostility toward President-elect Donald Trump's first administration. (((Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)))
Acosta is no stranger to anti-Trump stances on the job. When he was CNN's chief White House correspondent during Trump's first term, he did just that Mast routinely With the then president during press conferences.
During one controversial moment at a White House news conference in 2018, Acosta refused to stop asking questions, forcing Trump to tell him, “That's enough!”
When one of the White House interns stepped up to remove the microphone from the reporter's hand, he refused to give it up, leading to a brief call between them. In response, the White House revoked Acosta's press pass. Judge later Ruling in favor of CNNHe ordered the government to restore traffic.
Acosta also quoted the Statue of Liberty during a briefing room Q&A, criticized Kim Kardashian for calling her meeting with Trump on prison reform unserious, and It came out great From the press conference room one time when then-Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn't say the press was not the enemy of the people.
When asked about Acosta's sign and his clear message to Trump on Thursday, a CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital: “Jim was talking about the importance of a free press, which is something all journalists and citizens should agree on.”
