CNN’s Jim Acosta: Brazil Prez Bolsonaro Mentioned ‘Fake News’ to ‘Suck Up’ to Trump

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”:

This led to Trump applauding the Brazilian leader for adopting his term:

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the founder/publisher of Contemptor and a contributor to The Daily Beast. He was previously the Cable News Correspondent for Mediaite and prior to starting Contemptor, he worked on the editorial staff of PoliticusUSA. During that time, he had his work quoted by USA Today and BBC News, among others. Justin began his published career as a political writer for 411Mania. He resides in St. Louis, MO with his wife and pets.

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