Another day, another step towards autocracy. Things got heated in the White House press room today, where CNN’s Jim Acosta put press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on the spot, asking her if she agreed with Donald Trump that the press were the “enemy of the people.” This was in response to the Trumps administration’s repeated attacks on the press and the president himself calling journalists the enemy at his rally.
Acosta pressed Sanders on the issue, bringing up Ivanka Trump’s rebuke of her father’s war on the press. This comes just two days after Acosta was heckled and harassed by Trump supporters at a rally in Tampa. These rallies have become increasingly dangerous for journalists thanks to Trump’s hostility towards the fourth estate.
Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy. pic.twitter.com/IhSRw5Ui3R
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 1, 2018
In the video below, you can see Acosta repeatedly asking Sanders to say that the press (you know, the roomful of people she’s talking to every day) was not the enemy. Sanders refused, choosing instead to complain about “unfair” coverage and Michelle Wolf’s White House Correspondents Dinner speech.
Acosta Asks Sanders to Say that Press is **NOT** Enemy of the People. Sanders Responds with Anti-Press Tirade. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/W6Fec8m0MW
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 2, 2018
“For the sake of this room, the people who are in this room, this democracy, this country, all the people around the world are watching what you’re saying, Sarah,” Acosta said. “The president of the United States should not refer to us as the enemy of the people.”
Sanders said in response, “I appreciate your passion. I share it. I’ve addressed this question. I’ve addressed my personal feelings. I’m here to speak on behalf of the president. He’s made his comments clear.”
Acosta left the press room, and later tweeted the following:
I walked out of the end of that briefing because I am totally saddened by what just happened. Sarah Sanders was repeatedly given a chance to say the press is not the enemy and she wouldn’t do it. Shameful.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 2, 2018
Frankly, Acosta should have been followed out by the rest of the White House press corps. We all know these people in power are lying to us, yet day after day the WHPC show up to report on their bold-faced lies. It would be a historic and courageous move for the entire press corps to walk away from Sanders and cease reporting on her. That day might be coming sooner than we think.
(via Huffington Post, image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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