CNN Journos and Others Horrified By Manu Raju Cicada Attack Caught on Camera: ‘I. Would. DIE.’

CNN colleagues and others poured out messages of support and horror for “Chief Cicada Correspondent” Manu Raju after an attack by one of the creatures was caught on camera.

On Thursday afternoon, Raju posted harrowing video of the attack, which occurred as he was setting up a live shot on Capitol Hill. Many of his CNN colleagues weighed in on Twitter, as did a wide range of other horrified and empathetic media personalities. And some who cruelly found humor in Raju’s plight.

THE CICADAS ARE HERE https://t.co/MsDqhBeXOS

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 27, 2021

I’ve watched this roughly 4,000 times in the last 2 hours and still haven’t stopped laughing https://t.co/7aP5H84pDb

— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) May 27, 2021

Brooding. https://t.co/Er1tiYUMgm

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) May 27, 2021

They. Are. Everywhere ? https://t.co/7NmPaRFSgT

— Carrie Cordero (@carriecordero) May 27, 2021

Hi I’m screaming https://t.co/GmdEQAheXY

— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) May 27, 2021

The great @mkraju aka:
@CNN‘s Chief Cicada Correspondent https://t.co/oufu1OOhN3

— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) May 27, 2021

A hard HELL NO https://t.co/Zb4Cg4Dfyv

— Eugene Daniels (@EugeneDaniels2) May 27, 2021

To emerge from pandemic and go straight into 17-year pest plague seems…just not right https://t.co/y3LSplosMC

— Evan Pérez (@evanperez) May 27, 2021

I knew a guy growing up who would have grabbed it and eaten it just to gross everyone out. Not sure what happened to him. https://t.co/y8g8LFcHZN

— ed lavandera (@edlavaCNN) May 27, 2021

Oh.
My.
Gosh.
They are everywhere! https://t.co/m3m5r52iTe

— Kate Bolduan (@KateBolduan) May 27, 2021

The always unflappable Manu gets flapped. Priceless. https://t.co/4n0MJHP5VH

— Tom Foreman (@tomforemancnn) May 27, 2021

I for one can’t wait to see @mkraju‘s new show on Discovery+. https://t.co/KkxRriIyfK

— Joe Ruiz (@joeruiz) May 27, 2021

The beeping ?

No one gets past Manu… not even the cicadas.

This is the best clip of the day, hands down. https://t.co/TtPc8FK0dn

— Dianne Gallagher (@DianneG) May 27, 2021

When I tell you I SCREAMED https://t.co/SJTHYKG49E

— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) May 27, 2021

Had this been me you’d swear I was an opera singer ’cause I would have shrieked louder than Leontyne Price at the end of Tosca. cc @supersinga https://t.co/AhyaJKy8ks

— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) May 27, 2021

i’d never recover from this https://t.co/kWNYc6yW5k

— Kevin Madden (@KevinMaddenDC) May 27, 2021

At first, I thought, “You know, @mkraju seems awfully sanguine about that huge insect crawling up to his neck …” https://t.co/97B9fFmmLl

— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) May 27, 2021

Everyone in DC wants camera time: https://t.co/HscdHmqNXE

— Nancy Chen (@NancyChenNews) May 27, 2021

Has somebody made a “Cicada News Network” joke yet https://t.co/CJIkWRaYBW

— Gary Grumbach (@GaryGrumbach) May 27, 2021

“hello I am Brood X live from the Capitol” https://t.co/cUuR0Oj6zO

— Julie Tsirkin (@JulieNBCNews) May 27, 2021

I. Would. DIE. It looks too much like the South Florida roaches (thank goodness my run-ins with some of them since I’ve been down here were not recorded) https://t.co/JgLiMa5uTr

— Robbin Simmons (@RobbinSimmons7) May 27, 2021

There were even a few pro-cicada tweets.

IT WAITED 17 YEARS LET IT HAVE ITS MOMENT https://t.co/DvsQhAS5Ix

— shauna (@goldengateblond) May 27, 2021

Let me go on record: I am obsessed with all things #cicadas https://t.co/aYFkWrlUkc

— Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) May 27, 2021

I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords https://t.co/6yFZdN3GqY

— Jackson Proskow (@JProskowGlobal) May 27, 2021

And a damning observation about Raju’s crew.

The best part might be that the producers and cameraperson didn’t warn him during the several seconds the cicada was climbing his lapel. https://t.co/FkOutucun3

— Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) May 27, 2021

The videographer filming this. https://t.co/AQkag1TYGm pic.twitter.com/lyHWWcV1bO

— Eric Conrad (@EricConradFL) May 28, 2021

And I thought it was bad when my directors didn’t tell me my tie wasn’t straight. https://t.co/jus7Cgc4iY

— John Hart (@JohnHartWJBF) May 27, 2021

Um, shouldn’t @tedbarrettcnn have warned you before you stepped in front of camera? But proves as usual nothing stops Manu from delivering the latest https://t.co/fEzYXHZrJk

— Deirdre Walsh (@deirdrekwalsh) May 27, 2021

Raju’s attack even became an international sensation, proof that some things transcend language barriers.

Diese Zikaden! Es gibt kein Entrinnen hier in Washington! Auch der CNN-Kollege wird hinterlistig angegriffen. Kenn ich ? https://t.co/MWGAzkbwOW

— Thomas von Grünigen (@tvongruenigen) May 28, 2021

gegen canceln von swear words https://t.co/r3N8OjIXcW

— Jenni Thier ? (@stehsatz) May 28, 2021

Watch the attack above via Manu Raju.

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