CNN’s Jim Acosta: Brazil Prez Bolsonaro Mentioned ‘Fake News’ to ‘Suck Up’ to Trump
Moments after President Trump congratulated new Brasilian President Jair Bolsonaro for using the term “fake news” during their joint Rose Garden news conference, CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta said the authoritarian strongman mentioned the phrase in order to “suck up” to Trump.
“Brooke, the thing that has to be noted and we’d be remiss if we didn’t note it, when the president of Brazil mentioned the term fake news, he got a smile and a nod from President Trump,” Acosta told CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin Tuesday afternoon.
He continued: “And, you know, this is something that we’ve seen since President Trump came into office, called this network fake news, referring to the press as the enemy of the people, this is a virus that is spreading around the world. When you have the President of Brazil calling the press fake news, he is — he is trying to essentially, you know, suck up to the President of the United States.”
The CNN reporter added that Bolsonaro is “trying to emulate” Trump and this is another example of Trump’s dangerous rhetoric being picked up by other leaders around the world, especially when it comes to using derogatory language to describe the free press.
During Tuesday’s presser, President Trump nodded and smiled when he heard Bolsonaro mention that Brazil and the United States were united in their fight against “fake news”:
Bolsonaro — who's said he wouldn't rape a woman bc she didn't "deserve" it & that he hoped his son would die, rather than be gay — says the US and Brazil stand together in defending traditional family values and God, and fighting PC culture and fake news. pic.twitter.com/hMxjJ4NtXW
— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 19, 2019
This led to Trump applauding the Brazilian leader for adopting his term:
Trump applauds an authoritarian strongman (again) for adopting his extremist language towards the press: "I'm very proud to hear the president use the term fake news" pic.twitter.com/7V8xes3tGG
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 19, 2019
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
