Jim Acosta: ‘I’m Very Worried’ Trump’s Anti-Media Rhetoric Will End With ‘Somebody Getting Hurt’
While reporting from President Donald Trump’s Tampa campaign rally on Tuesday night, CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta found himself on the receiving end of withering verbal attacks from Trump supporters. As he tried to deliver live reports from the arena, the crowd heckled him with chants of “CNN sucks” and “Fake News.”
Following the raucous event, Acosta took to Twitter to share some footage of angry rallygoers cursing him out and flipping him off. Many of the Trump fans wore shirts and buttons decrying the media and CNN — one man can be seen with a “Fuck the Media” shirt — and all of them appeared to take turns berating the veteran reporter. One man in particular, holding a Seth Rich/QAnon poster, demanded Acosta ask Trump about the crazed conspiracy theories.
Besides sharing the clip on Twitter, Acosta also expressed deep concern over the possibility of violence against the press due to Trump’s anti-media rhetoric.
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
“I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt,” Acosta wrote. “We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy.”
Of course, after the rally, Team Trump celebrated the verbal assault Acosta received from the rally crowd. Trump’s son — no, not that one — quote-tweeted an article about the crowd chanting “CNN Sucks” and tagged Acosta while adding #Truth. Naturally, this was retweeted by the president.
Meanwhile, Fox News’ Sean Hannity applauded the actions of the crowd while telling Acosta that he deserved the berating due to his harsh treatment of Trump.
