Trump Campaign Manager Demands CNN’s Jim Acosta Lose Press Credentials for Doing His Job
President Donald Trump‘s 2020 campaign manager demanded CNN’s Jim Acosta be stripped of his press credentials simply for asking questions at the signing ceremony during the summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Brad Parscale tweeted the attack Tuesday afternoon, calling Acosta “an absolute disgrace” in response to a Daily Wire article which claimed he was “shouting” questions at the Singapore event, despite the fact that he was speaking in a normal register and performing his job as a reporter.
Jim @Acosta should immediately have his press credentials suspended. He is an absolute disgrace! @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/EY18ZeIq2h
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) June 12, 2018
As Trump sat next to Kim and signed a document outlining a plan to approach denuclearization of the peninsula, Acosta asked, “Mr. President, did he agree to denuclearize?”
Trump answered, “We’re starting that process very quickly.”
Acosta then continued his questioning, asking whether the two leaders had talked about Otto Warmbier, the American college student who mysteriously died after being detained in North Korea, but Trump did not reply.
The questions clearly stuck a nerve with Parscale, who appears to be recycling the same criticisms of Acosta he launched last April. In another tweet, he suggested Acosta “get a suspension” for asking questions about DACA during the White House’s Easter celebration, claiming the reporter was “breaking protocol.”
Maybe it is time for Jim Acosta to get a suspension for breaking protocol. He continues to embarrass himself and @CNN. Pull his credentials for each incident. https://t.co/WHC9nlIo75
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) April 2, 2018
The threats against press freedom are especially disturbing considering that Parscale will help to lead Trump’s re-election effort, and the president himself has already floated revoking credentials from journalists who report negatively on him.
In May, Trump called the media “corrupt,” implying that any stories that don’t favor his administration are patently false.
The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018
[Image via screengrab]
