CNN’s Jim Acosta And J6 Cop Torch Trump Over ‘Welcoming Violent Rioters’ To White House: ‘Bizarro World!’
CNN anchor Jim Acosta and DC metropolitan police officer Michael Fanone — who was brutally assaulted and had a heart attack as a result of the Capitol riot — went off on President Donald Trump for expressing willingness to welcome “violent rioters” to the White House.
Trump spoke to reporters for about 20 minutes Thursday during an Oval Office signing ceremony, taking questions and rattling off a characteristic string of false claims.
They included an exchange in which Trump said he would certainly be open” to hosting the rioters he pardoned — in the White House:
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, do you have anything to say to the people you’ve pardoned that were participated in the January 6, 2021, campaign? Did you plan to meet with any of them or meet with them at the White House?
TRUMP: I don’t know. I’m sure that they probably would like to. I did them something important.
But what they did is they were protesting a crooked election. I mean, people understand that also. And they were treated very badly. Nobody’s been treated like that. So I’d be open to it, certainly. I don’t know of anything like that.
But I think they’re going to meet some of the congresspeople, congressmen, women, who want to meet. But I’d certainly be open to it.
On Friday’s edition of CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta, Acosta opened a segment by “fact-checking” Trump’s claims about the rioters, then joined Fanone in slamming the “outrageous” idea of inviting the attackers to the White House:
JIM ACOSTA: Just days after his sweeping clemency order that pardoned more than 1,000 January 6 rioters, President Trump now says he’s open to hosting some of them over at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know. I’m sure that they probably would like to. I did them something important. But what they did is, they were protesting a crooked election. I mean, people understand that also.
And they were treated very badly. Nobody’s been treated like that. So I’d be open to it, certainly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: A fact-check, they were not just protesting. They were beating police officers. They were storming the Capitol, and they were not protesting a crooked election because the election was not crooked.
But these are some of the so-called protesters the president is considering welcoming to the White House, violent rioters who not only attacked democracy that day, but also the police officers who tried to stop them.
That includes former D.C. Police Officer Michael Fanone, who you can see here fighting to protect the Capitol that day from — against that violent mob.
And Mike Fanone joins me now.
Mike, good to see you.
It almost seems like we’re in a bizarro world here that January 6 rioters and insurrectionists would be welcomed over to the White House. What do you think about that?
MICHAEL FANONE, FORMER D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICER: I actually disagree, Jim. I think it makes perfect sense.
I mean, I like to hang out with people that I have things in common with. And Donald Trump is a convicted criminal and an insurrectionist, and he wants to hang out with fellow convicted criminals and insurrectionists. So, for me, this makes perfect sense.
ACOSTA: And for all the talk that you hear from his aides and allies that it’s time to move on, it’s time to look forward and so on, he keeps coming back to this and saying it was a crooked election and so on.
He’s back in the White House, and he can’t even admit that he lost in 2020. He downplayed the violence that day during this recent Oval Office interview, if you want to call it that. Let’s take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Most of the people were absolutely innocent, OK.
But forgetting all about that, these people have served horribly a long time. Some of those people with the police, true, but they were very minor incidents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Yes, Mike, I mean, we have seen the video of what you went through that day. We have shown — this is your bodycam footage. We can show it again. These were not minor incidents.
But he’s trying to whitewash, obviously, what took place on January 6. And it seems to me — I know you guys are disappointed, you and the other officers are disappointed that Trump’s back in the White House, but it seems you almost have another mission ahead of you. And that is to stop the whitewashing of January 6 from happening.
I wonder how you feel about that.
FANONE: Yes. No, absolutely.
I mean, listen, the American people chose Donald Trump to be their president. What outrages me is not the fact that Donald Trump is in office, so much as these attempts to, like you said, whitewash the events of that day, to turn the January 6 insurrectionists and convicted criminals into the patriotic heroes that Donald Trump would like them to be, and watching so many American people complicit in that attempt.
Listen, what happened to me that day and what happened to hundreds of other police officers was nothing short of horrific. It was violent and it was brutal.
For those that don’t remember, the individuals that were charged for assaulting me all pled guilty, were all sentenced to lengthy jail sentences, and Donald Trump let them free. It’s an outrage. The American people should be outraged. I mean, quite frankly, there should be protesting in the streets about this absolute, unbelievable crime…
ACOSTA: Yes.
FANONE: … that’s been committed against our criminal justice system.
ACOSTA: And, Mike, I know I’m worried about reprisals, the potential for reprisals. I mean, some of these offenders, some of these criminals who were let out of jail, what happens if they reoffend?
I mean, that is a key question in all of this. And what does that mean for folks like you? I know your mother has been through an ordeal in all of this. What does all of that mean for folks like yourself, the fact that these people are back out on the street?
FANONE: Yes, well, first, let’s address one of the one of the big lies that’s being told about these individuals that were convicted of crimes.
Many of them, many of them had significant criminal histories. These were not grandmas and grandpas that just wandered into the United States Capitol and, oh, next thing you know, they’re being charged with violent felonies.
These were individuals who were already predisposed to committing acts of violence. Many of them were drug users, drug dealers, spousal abusers, sexual predators. These are the individuals that Donald Trump is claiming are great American patriots. And they committed acts of violence against law enforcement officers.
So, that’s who Donald Trump has released back out into the community. And the idea that these individuals will not reoffend is outrageous. It’s ridiculous.
ACOSTA: Yes.
FANONE: And many of them view people like myself as the reason that they are behind bars. They now feel emboldened because Donald Trump has told them: If you commit crimes on my behalf, I’m going to protect you. I’m going to absolve you of all accountability.
ACOSTA: Yes.
FANONE: So why wouldn’t they target people like me, people like you, and attack us, assault us?
ACOSTA: Yes.
Watch above via CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta.
