CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta appeared on “The Late Show” Wednesday to defend himself against President Trump’s labeling of CNN as fake news.
“[President Trump] said ‘you’re fake news,’ and to me, when you insult our news organization and call us fake news, that’s calling on me for a question,” Acosta told host Stephen Colbert. “He refers to CNN as fake news. I look at that as he’s calling on me for a question, so I am going to push back.”
Acosta said that Trump supporters have good intentions and like this country, but their perception of the network’s coverage of Trump is warped by conservative websites. He also said the supporters care more about the coverage of the president than his behavior — but Acosta said he thinks Trump’s behavior is more newsworthy than their coverage.
Colbert then asked Acosta if he worried the president points to the media so much that they become the story, saying, “that’s not really the goal of your journalism.”
“Right, and we’re not supposed to be the story; that’s not why I’m out there,” Acosta said. “I get accused of that from time to time. And my attitude is, listen, I’m allowed to care about this country just as much as anybody else.”
Before the show, Acosta tweeted he was ready to bring “#realnews to “The Late Show” and that he was “#nottheenemy” — referring to Trump’s comments calling the media the “enemy of the American people.”
Getting ready to bring some #realnews to ?@colbertlateshow? with ?@StephenAtHome? #nottheenemy pic.twitter.com/a63TcxU92e
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 8, 2018
Despite Acosta’s claim that he isn’t out there to be the story, he has repeatedly railed against the Trump administration on the air and on social media when he has been prevented from asking questions at press briefings and other events or when he feels that he has been mistreated by the president’s supporters.
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