Sanders says the White House will not tolerate a reporter putting his hands on a young woman but she works for a man that brags about grabbing women by the you know what?
50
@JB
But talk is cheap.
1
Helen Thomas would be proud of Jim Acosta. One of her famous quotes is " I don't think a tough question is disrespectful."
84
Yay! We surely need so much more of this kind of persistence and bravery in our press. Thanks, Mr. Acosta.
34
@susan. She should have asked some of Obama when she had the chance. And Obama did tell her to pipe down when she talked over him or other reporters.
6
I'm not here to defend CNN, they truly are incredibly inept at covering the news unbiasedly and from other than a corporate/establishment perspective, and I say this not as a Trump supporter but as a progressive Democrat. But, this attack on the press, especially in the White House itself and not at one of his rallies, is really disturbing to witness. Yes, one can say Trump is a rude, unstable snowflake. But more importantly and ominously, it is another blow to another American institution. Trump is slowly, but surely, dismantling the checks and balances that will keep him from running amuck. This is 101 strategy for a demagogue. And the press's response? Sheep-like. Unless the White House press corps stands together, they will be picked off like lone sheep from a wolf attack. But as we saw with the corporate media in the general election, Trump is money, big money, and there is too much money to be made off of him by not rocking the boat. Acosta will be thrown overboard, but given a hero's eulogy by his fellow press colleagues.
78
@FXQ
CNN is one of the most professional and credible cable news networks existing today which is why the White House loves to hate it. Reporting the news is not a "corporate or establishment" event, especially at a White House briefing in front of the entire planet. You may want to re-think this opinion.
16
"But Ms. Sanders posted a 15-second video clip on Twitter that misleadingly suggested Mr. Acosta had pushed the intern’s upper arm. "
I can prove that Acosta shoved her arm with any video you provide, but the NYT, or the liberal opposition, don't want to know because they have been instructed to lie about it.
3
It would be a welcome relief if the White House press corps acted with decorum, respect, and grace. Shouting questions with a disregard for simple social skills makes the press look like unruly children.
12
It would be nicer if the President acted the way you demand the press does.
The PRESIDENT is the one who sets the tone.
Acting like a buffoon without disregard for ANYTHING, especially the consequences of your words and actions is unbecoming of anyone supposedly "Presidential."
92
@Marathon Runner It appears to me that the press are just mirroring the adversarial, disrespectful approach of a President who has done more to undermine the integrity of the office than any President in history.
49
@matty The press has been shouting questions at presidents for quite a long time. It's an embarrassment when leaders from other countries visit the White House and the press corps is shouting like children on a playground.
6
Sara Huckabee Sanders is the daughter of well-known Christian Evangelical dissembler Mike Huckabee, who has been a candidate for U.S. president in the past. Presumably, she learned her dishonest ways from her father.
19
One thinks of a trapped animal panicking and lashing out hysterically.
11
Remember the episode of "West Wing" where a veteran foreign correspondent was assigned to the White House and told the CJ character that there was nothing of substance from the press conferences. Stop showing up for the baloney.
Legitimate news organizations should shift the expense of the WH operations to investigative journalism.
There is no Izvestia in Pravda and no Pravda in Izvestia
5
@Rick
I never watched "West Wing", missed it completely, but
I say that the press would better serve themselves and the public if they sent interns or cub reporters to those White House press briefings. There is only so much information you can squeeze from a professional spokesperson who has been instructed what to say. They don't know what really goes on in government. They could be hypnotized and injected with truth serum and you still wouldn't learn much because they just don't know.
2
I saw this real time. I will go with my first impression unaffected by the President’s statements or this article. As I watched, it appeared to me that Mr. Acosta struggled to keep the microphone, and perhaps inadvertently seemed to swat the intern’s arm arm when she reached over his side to get the microphone. He put a young female intern in an awkward situation and did appear to try to overcome her. I don't mean overpower, but by his presence, tenacity and action, clearly intimidared this young woman. He should not have done that.
Nor should the president have said what he did, and he shouldn’t have taken away Mr. Acosta’s hard pass.
Based upon my live observation,both men acted unprofessionally and deserve criticism. Yes, it is possible to criticize both sides.
We should do that more often instead of blindly supporting our team. Maybe if they get it from all sides, our officials and others might actually sit up and listen.
.
8
No Gino. He was still talking and gesticulating when she tried to grab his microphone. He simply did not put her in any other position that what she chose to do to herself. He didn’t swat her arm and said “excuse me ma’am” . He is a professional doing his job based on free speech. The White House owe him an apology right now. Are sure you watch the real version not the shameful White House doctored version.
20
Would "reasonable minds" differ as to the credibility of an explanation received from one notorious liar (Trump) that itself is dependent upon dubiously edited digital evidence from an even greater liar (Alex Jones/InfoWars)? No. "REASONABLE" minds would not differ because the combined mendacity of Trump, Sanders and InfoWars is almost beyond description.
Imagine a linear and subjective credibility scale from -100 (irredeemable) to +100 (personification of objective truth). Based on this linear scale, try giving Sanders, Trump, and InfoWars their own "Credit Score." Since they are acting in concert, not as individuals, their overall Credit Score is the sum of those 3 numbers. For instance...
Sanders. Shockingly amoral, but I think she's more tool than craftsman in the many lies of the Trump administration. Credit Score: -25 (a mere liar for hire).
Trump. Even giving him an undeserved "mulligan" 50+ years of well-documented lies before his candidacy, Trump tells such outrageous and obvious lies that considering the precise opposite of his assertions is a fairly reliable predictor of truth.
Credit Score: -90 (this with a +10 pt bonus for sometimes inadvertently endangering more skillful liars like Manafort through sheer clumsiness).
Alex Jones/InfoWars. A purveyor of deadly serious lies that will continue to inspire violence and threats of violence against innocent people. Credit Score: -100
That means their coordinated statement scores a -215.
7
If Trump were smart he would ban all reporters from his news conferences and fill the chairs with people from Fox News. They could read pre selected questions and call Trump "Your Excellency". Trump would smile and compliment them on their intelligence and their decorum, and at least half of the country would not notice, and the other half would not care. Because this is America, and we're Number one.
10
The president is answerable to the people.
That means he has to stand there and listen to and answer questions in the press room that is the reason that room exists. The same applies anywhere he stands to answer questions.
Now this use of the faked video is a step further in the series of steps the republicans have been taking in use of propaganda and manufactured events for several decades now. To my eye this concerted organized planned use of these methids is exactly the same thing we fought the cold war over with the Soviet Union. I saw another comment mentioned this as well.
So what exactly is the problem press?! Are you blind? Scared? or just a frog who hasn't noticed the water temp changing as the cooker flames lick up to and over the rim of the pot?
9
The press corps should boycott the president
21
This presidency under this creature called Trump has crossed so many lines. When are we as democratic-loving Americans going to ask ourselves - ENOUGH!
12
So, the White House has disseminated truly fake news. How telling.
Stephen Knight
Seattle
11
@Stephen Knight
Not with that video.
Trump can’t handle the “heat”— any heat. He needs to lash out indiscriminately. Anyone in his path who may look at him the wrong way or dare ask a fair question is fair game. This is someone who has anger management issues that continuously lash out at journalists who are asking pertinent questions that he deems “disrespectful”.
He needs to look at himself and hit the replay button to see his behavior (words and actions). He may be enlightened.
6
@Jocelyn
It isn't anger management its deep seated insecurity because of growing up in a silver spoon bubble and never having had to face the world on his own. IDK why but people keep protecting and coddling this loser.
12
Why use the term "Misleading" in the headline when "doctored " is more accurate. Misleading implies the passive, perhaps a video from an obscured angle, or zoomed in. The video was doctored. Perhaps the same reason that media won't use the word "lie." The Times is not the only one waffling on this. I know the article goes into more detail, but shouldn't the headline match the article?
21
Could the editors have come up with less a impactful headline? The video was not merely “misleading,” it was doctored. It is not simply edited to remove context, it is a fabrication meant to tell the lie that Acosta assaulted the aide grabbing the mic. The unrelenting mendacity of this administration is criminal. The NYT should be more assertive and accurate in reporting it.
18
"Misleading video"? Please NYT be more accurate. It was a doctored edited video from a conspiracy propaganda site.
22
It was a matter of time that the #Metoo movement would have an ananachronistic effect on behavior and politics in public. What next, will men be denigrated for not standing when a women leaves or enters a roon at the White House?
Maybe the Metoo ladies would prefer a and will be aided in constructing, a gender segregated press corps-keeping those "awful, brutal" men on the other side of the room. I wonder how this will fall out?
Being used as a weapon by the Chump in Chief to further his abusive practices, seems to me a fast lane to disrespect from their male and regular female colleagues.
1
I heard, then watched, the exchange between Mr Acosta and the president. The president rudely interrupted Mr Acosta’s question from the start. Mr Acosta never touched anyone with his hands. He used his forearm to block the person attempting to take the microphone mid-sentence. His words to the young woman were respectful. The president was hostile while Mr Acosta remained calm. Apparently there is a history of conflict between the two, which I was unaware of because I do not watch CNN often. I do watch PBS news and was very offended by the president ‘s disrespectful behavior toward Ms Alcindor. The professional and grownup response would have been to thank her for her question and for the opportunity to clarify his remarks concerning “Nationalism.”
I would very much like to hear our president’s explanation, better yet, apology for his misrepresentation of the immigrants traveling toward the US border. I thank Mr Acosta and all reporters who continue to ask important questions. The logical conclusion from witnessing this unfortunate exchange is that our president cannot answer reporters’ questions because he knows that his own words are fiction.
21
The lies, the obfuscations... When does it stop? Or is this administration morphing into 1930s Germany?
12
Tell Jim Acosta that if he apologizes for his rude behavior, and asks for forgiveness from the young woman he manhandled the president may reconsider his banishment. I offer no guarantees but it would be a step forward, and because I have no affiliation with the White House at all and am only making stuff up. But this is the NYT. When in Rome...
1
Such raw nerves are a sign of hysteria and have no relation to the issues at hand.
So Sarah says Acosta touched the intern. As Trump has advised us many times: women overplay their "female card." Has the intern complained? Coming from Sarah—who daily reenforces Trump's "false" statements—the assertion becomes somewhat suspect.
I haven't seen the videos, but I did watch the embarrassing "mess" conference. I didn't see anything that I would consider undue touching, but, if Acosta had touched her, wouldn’t Trump cheer him on? After all, has voiced admiration of men who body-slam someone who runs around sticking a mic in others' faces.
This was no ordinary press conference, though; just more of Trump's embarrassing moments of self-aggrandizement—this one being over-long and darn boring to begin with, until he had listened long enough to his own rhetoric about his victories in the mid-terms that he convinced himself it was true. We've all heard his claims that when told often enough, a lie becomes truth—for him and his base that certainly seems to be the case.
While Acosta did get frustrated—perhaps overly—that Trump would not answer his questions, which is what is supposed to happen at press conferences, he was not the only journalist to get Trump's dander up, nor was he the only one to be verbally attacked by the prez. Trump is responsible for the mean tone in this country now, even though he refuses to accept responsibility for it. There's a lot he denies . . . but we're on to him . . . and he knows it—hence his increasing irritability of late.
13
@Gerithegreek518
Do you know the definition of a "loaded question"?
1
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus
Was the question "loaded" because Acosta asked it, or because Trump is, in fact, a racist?
10
Lies, lies, and more lies.
What else can we expect? Our cowardly bully in chief doesn't care about us or the US.
He's exploring the range of his power, and apparently he feels invincible in the face of the truth, as long as he calls it the opposite.
This is insane, and evil. No question about it ...
evil
8
It was plain rude for the intern to violate Acosta's space without first addressing him and asking for the microphone. I would expect WH interns to receive better training and have much better manners.
13
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus I am not sure where you grew up, but where I come from we are being taught manners. And that includes that you don't just walk up to somebody and try to take something away from him or her without asking.
And I am saying this as a survivor of sexual violence as well as somebody who is still fighting gender discrimination daily in her job.
9
@PhoebeS
As for training, my guess is that they ordered this woman to do exactly what she did in order to create an incident
4
How is this even possible? I no longer have hope for a peaceful, rational future in this country. We are a failed state walking.
9
The whole incident shouldn’t have happened. We need to get back to a civil discourse if we ever want to tackle the big issues. It was rude to not just trump but also the reporters in the room for Acosta to continue to ask questions, when he was given the opportunity to only ask one. It was also rude for the president to badger him to give up the mic and call him names. So now instead of talking about the topics and how they were answered at the press conference we are talking about an exchange that happens daily between school children. This whole incident in general is beneath us as a country. We need to instead focus our attention together on the issues that will dramatically impact our country in the years to come. Where are the “adults” in the room?
6
What do you expect from an administration run by Fox Fake News? Trump has happily adopted the Fox business model of cutting and splicing video and using footage and pictures of unrelated events, and outright lying, to push their dishonest narrative. Unfortunately, this ploy works with the ignorant and thought-free Trump cultists who only want a focus for their anger about their unsuccessful, unsatisfying lives.
12
Misleading? More like doctored.
7
Hopefully, POTUS is pondering on how to avoid such "democracy-defacing disasters" in future! Can such acts be labelled as "swampish"?!
1
The whole thing was disgusting at best. Time for Igor Huckabee Sanders to exit. She is appalling.
10
Wow -- the video was not altered or modified in any way. Acostsa CLEARLY took a swipe against the arm of the intern that was rightfully retrieving the microphone.
Anyone here claiming the video was doctored is: A) telling a lie B) Never saw the video or C) A+ B
Here is the full video including freeze frames. https://youtu.be/OIfo4DnFd1I
Stop telling lies.
1
So how is it that it looks like Mr. Acosta strikes the intern's arm in this video, but not in all the other videos of the encounter? Because this video was doctored. If you don't want to see the difference, that's on you, and the only reason is that you support Trump.
9
@Dan Stackhouse
It's in all of the videos. Find one you like and watch it.
All the lier in chief had to do was NOT call on Jim Acosta. DJT knew exactly what was going to happen and he made it a spectacle. Acosta was set up and should have been mindful of his manners. The poor, lowly intern was just doing her job.
4
I most carefully examined the sync'd and side by side of the two videos, "real" and "propaganda", and to be honest I could not find a material difference between them.
The NY Times, with its talented video resources, can *overlay* the two videos to show the discrepancies precisely.
Personally, I think Acosta was decredentialed because he grievously annoyed King Con in a public forum, which is a lèse-majesté unforgivable among all authoritarian personalities. (Remember Charles DeGaulle's press conferences? "I congratulate myself on agreeing to speak with you.")
To be honest, it's political theater -- on both sides. And therefore nugatory.
Imagine if Acosta sues the president, as Jennifer Rubin suggests. Then we'll have judicial theater on top of political theater on top of policy theater on top of substantive issues, more or less.
And with a climate change cherry on top.
Fabulous fun.
4
@drollere
Oh boy! Jennifer Rubin says Acosta should sue? That's gonna be fun. She's the one who said the press secretary should be harassed and harangued for life because she works for the president.
By the way, he would lose that suit. He got physical with a staffer just a few feet from the president. He a security risk now.
Exaggeration!
2
Acosta got what he deserved. He was trying to hog the conversation. Their are other reporters their that also want to ask questions.
2
@Robert Agreed! Let's face it: No one lied like Obama -- and the press gave him a FREE PASS (Example lie: "you can keep your doctor").
Could you imagine if the press harassed Obama the way they do to Trump? Maybe Obama would have done something more than lie about Obamacare, the economy, the 2012 Benghazi attack; etc., etc., etc.
I reviewed the CNN video posted on youtube and I know what I saw. Acosta clearly used his hand to force back the upper arm of the intern as she tried to retrieve the mic. This after the President let Acosta be the first to ask his question, to which the President answered, of which Acosta was not satisfied and then proceeded to grandstand, which the President tolerated and allowed for sometime before finally asking him to sit down and let the other reporters have a chance, but Acosta stubbornly refused. It's plain as day. Yet the media criticizes the President rather than the unprofessional behavior of a fellow 'journalist'. Is it any wonder why large segments of the American public does not trust the mainstream media?
5
Libel laws are different in Britain
This is the stuff of dictatorships. Huckabee Sanders should be fired; Infowars should be banned be a source of information for a presidential administration; the President should stop being such a baby when people don't agree with him. None of those things will happen.
Support the freedom of the (real) press.
36
We’ve reached a new low with the White House promoting a knowingly doctored video, as amateurish and blatantly obvious as the Photo Shopped images coming out of North Korea. Ms. Sanders offered this video without the slightest sense of conscience. “At long last, have you no shame?” was a powerful indictment when it was spoken in the 1950s, bringing down a notorious demagogue. Today, any sense of shame is a sign of weakness and disloyalty.
9
Editors: This is not a "misleading" video, this is a doctored, faked, or fraudulent video. Start calling them as they are, already.
9
I'm writing to take issue with the headline for this article. The video was not "misleading". The video was altered, doctored, in order to mislead those watching into believing actions that did not occur did.
9
How stupid can you be putting out a sillydoctored video from a whacko group when the original is owned by a news organization and publicly available all over the internet.
The National Enquirer is now inside the White House.
8
The true headline should have been:
White House Press Secretary Routinely Reads Infowars!
7
White House press credentials are a privilege not a right. If a reporter cannot behave with decorum and show respect then they do not belong there. And this does not apply to only Acosta, who clearly set his intentions on provocation. It also applies to networks who tolerate (and in the case of CNN, encourage) incivility of their employees.
1
@Kai
Do you remember Ed Henry from FOX? Did he behave with decorum and show respect for President Obama when asking questions?
5
@Denwings
I don;t understand the comment - does Henry's lack of decorum justify the wholesale loss of manners at the recent briefing? In my view a reporter who is incapable of hiding their intrinsic biases should be banned for the WH, in perpetuity. They also should find another job.
@Kai
We the American public are still waiting for 45 to show decorum and respect to the office of President of the United States, it's been nearly two years now. We won't hold our collective breath waiting for 45 to show a little bit of class.
9
It would be good if you posted links to both the accurate and the inaccurate video. And if while mentioning some background on he inaccurate video, you also examined the accurate video. Mr. Acosta's actions were not all that bad. But they were bad. He should not have resisted the intern attempting to take the microphone back. Mr. Trump has his obvious faults. But the rest of the human race has a few too. And that includes journalists. Mr. Acosta likes his act just as much as Mr. Trump likes his. A little self criticism by both people would be a good idea.
7
@Gordon Wiggerhaus said "A little self criticism by both people would be a good idea." Isn't self-criticism what 'Pardon me, ma'am' is? You are asking for forgiveness for your actions. If there was no 'Pardon me', then your call for self-criticism on both sides is correct.
Which is precisely why Infowars dropped it. And that is the real issue here.
4
I understand why, in the traditional sense, the Press would attend this press conference. There had just been a major election, there was about to be a change in the balance of power in Washington, the President was going to give his remarks on what his administration's plans were going forward.
That's the way it used to work under the old rules, but we've entered a brave new world here. I believe we have reached the point where legitimate press should consider opting out of White House press briefings. They offer very little actual "news" content, and are clearly meant to be scripted and choreographed political messaging events (I'll steer clear of the "P" word for now).
I'm not saying the press should stop covering the White House - we need that more than ever. But these press conferences tell us nothing that we need to know, and only provide talking points for Trump to get his base worked up about the "enemy of the state" media at his rallies. Trump already has his Twitter megaphone when he wants to get his message across. He doesn't need CNN and the like to hand him another one.
2
Good for him! He’ll finally get a break from the toxic, fetid environment that is the White House. Honestly, can anyone imagine a day in the life of a White House correspondent. Daily exposure to the president’s lunacy cannot be healthy. It’s definitely not healthy for us. Most of what he says as accentuated by those ridiculous, small hand gesticulations is completely nonsensical.
My advice to Mr. Acosta: take this opportunity to recalibrate mentally somewhere off the grid. We’ll need you back at some point!
10
@Dr. E
I told him, through twitter, among thousands of other comments, that those tight collars were restricting the return venous circulation in his neck and causing his head to swell up, gradually, over the years, like Ted Koppel. Ever really see his head? It's huge, from those tight collars and neck ties, every day of his adult life, for decades.
CNN and Mr Acosta shall send a lawsuit to the press secretary for this propagandistic manufactured video.
4
Trump hates the media is they are not reporting what he likes.
This act by this Administration is a smack in the face to the First Amendment. Freedom of the Press was to important to the founders that they put it in the Frist Amendment. Wake up America. The press may ask questions you not like or agree with, but we need them. Even Richard Nixon knew how far he could go, and he had dispear for the press.
5
Note, propaganda reporters who lie.
Michael M. Grynbaum and Elizabeth Williamson.
Ask me and I'll provide evidence why I say that. it's in this article.
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus
We're waiting on baited breath.
2
@Margo Channing
Nobody has asked. Read for comprehension.
1
Trump just relishes being mean. He’s a bully and he gets his kicks by publically humiliating people - whether he’s demeaning people with nasty nicknames, firing them by tweet, or stirring up jeering crowds. He had a little boy hissy fit the other day because the Dems took the house. What better way to distract himself from his embarrassment and distract the American people from a Democratic victory than by creating an ugly scene. He is a truly small, disturbed man-baby. Such an abuser of the power he has been given. I cannot wait for the day that he’s FIRED!
12
@Kathryn Why did he pick a female intern? Does Trump see women as victims? Did he think it would make Accosta look like a molester? Trump is so transparent. What an idiot! Sheesh.
2
@Cynthia Queen - there was something about the entire set-up that looked staged. Trump thinks he’s the master manipulator, so I wouldn’t put it past him to have behaved that way to create news that competed with the Dem’s wins. Sheesh is right!
2
This is unacceptable behavior from the 45th and his crawlers. They still think, they can manipulate the truth and facts. Don’t fall for this America. Don’t let them think, we are stupid and illiterate. We need journalists who ask tough questions to bring the truth to light.
10
The helpless look on the young woman's face after the second attempt with her other hand shows Acosta's obstitence, passive agression, whatever you call it, it's inappropriate. If every reporter acted that way press conferences wouldn't work.
5
She was an idiot. He was doing his job. Trump just needed the answer the question.
4
I like seeing trumpists twist themselves into Klein bottles to try and justify Sanders using a doctored video from Newsmax. It’s a shame they really stink at it, but it’s hilarious—kind of like watching kittens try to turn on a mixer they’re sitting in.
13
No surprises here—just another page out of Putin’s playbook. And who’s Trump eagerly looking forward to meeting with this weekend?
6
Donald Trump is scared of people like Jim Acosta. He points his finger, his eyes bug out, and he snarls out threats and insults because he knows that he can not manipulate some reporters. Trump is a con artist. His entire life has revolved around spinning a narrative of how great he is, how powerful he is, how smart he is. In reality, he is an incredibly insecure, dishonest person who has used the tabloid media to his advantage for years and is finding out now most of the American public expects him to be held accountable for his behavior in ways he has never had to face before. I that the media will be relentless for the next two years in documenting Trump's behavior and refuse to back down.
14
Just to give you context for my comments, I view myself as a fence-straddling moderate. But, if I got tired, I'd fall to the left side of the fence. Because I'm not beholden to either of the polar doctrine, I usually can see the whole of the matter with greater clarity than you folks. Most of you engage in the same kind of fact coloring that the Trumpies do, although not on the same scale. In response to this story, many of you did this by commenting with disapproval of what Trump and his Trumpies did. You failed to mention or wave a pious finger at Jim Acosta, who was out of line. He acted like my five-year-old, demanding more floor time. He was also highly disrespectful, with disdain oozing from his voice in tenor, meter and pitch. The media is indeed partially responsible for the demise of public civility.
You also engage in what Bill Maher has described as seeking affirmation from like-minded folks. You're looking for an "Attaboy!" Picking on Trump is easy. Any one can do it. Is your self esteem running so low that you need to recharge it every day with Lefty lauding? How about you try seeking affirmation for doing something constructive. Actually help someone. Then you'll get a deserved "Attaboy!"
In reading these comments, I see why
7
I adore seeing trumpists start their little screeds with bragging about their honesty, their neutrality, and how they’re not trumpists, right before they go straight down the line they got from Pravda.
It lets me know exactly what’s coming. By the way, Acosta’s face wasn’t the one that went red, and he wasn’t the one who started spluttering.
18
@Not True
The American press as charged by our Constitution is not a rubber stamp for those in power. Sorry.
Even if a reporter is obnoxious.
Trump is no baby- he worked the sewers of National Enquirer back in the day to his advantage and knows EXACTLY what he is doing. Not a shred of sympathy is deserved . And a faked video? Sanders should be fired.
16
@Kay Johnson
The American Press is not charged by the constitution to do anything. The press are nothing more than ordinary citizens like you and me. The constitution does not give "the American Press" any unique authority or right more than the average citizen.
5
So the Trump administration used a fake news video to ban a reporter, and we're supposed to be surprised.
He will do this more and more and for more then just the press.
Trump is the biggest crook that ever sat in the White House.
9
With Trump as the king of mendacity, why should we expect truth from his minions? Trump will probably reward Sanders for her deceit.
6
Doctored or not, that intern should not have attempted to forcibly grab the microphone.
11
@YFJ
Those were her instructions. There was not much force in her attempts. Watch her again.
The disgust and revulsion that nearly 2/3 of the country feel about the way Donald Trump has handled himself in the nearly 2 years of presidency has reached a boiling point.
This man should not be making a mockery of the rule of law, he should not be lying on a daily basis to the American people, and we should not be forced to make this aberration of a man , the center of our national conversation.
Robert Mueller does have another avenue through which to send his report - he can send it directly to Congress . The Watergate scandal had set a precedent for this and no thug that Donald Trump can appoint to the position of Attorney General is going to counteract the truth which will eventually come out.
There are many of us who have a college education . We have a memory of the past and we know our American history. And based on what we know, many of us believe that impeachment for this president is alone far too benign a solution for this national disaster which is Donald Trump.
He should be in jail.
14
You would be hard pressed to find much that this administration does or has done that isn't based on misinformation or a downright lie.
10
Misleading? No, fake. It has been doctored, and that's the fact.
Typical for this administration, though.
7
The White House is not Trump real estate. That is OUR house.
And he is just a hair's breadth of taking a sledge-hammer to it and to our democracy.
6
Press briefings only serve one purpose: to show what lying dopes the president and his staff really are. No real information is conveyed at these briefings.
3
Lock her up.
3
It was a doctored video taken from a a far right website. Please don’t minimize the fact that the WH press secretary falsified evidence.
12
@Miki
Watch the original. The shove is on the original.
Why don't you NYT elite journalists ask the intern what happened? Then decide for yourself who you will believe.
This reporting is amazing, astounding. The NYT wins a Pulitzer for reporting on the #metoo movement and now they have done a complete about face and are actually defending a brutish overzealous reporter who shoves around young women. Maybe it has to be sexual in nature for them to be activated into a rage of righteous indignation, but if some man shoves a young woman in a demonstration of physical power, without the sexual element, it's all fine and good.
4
Dies this sort of gotcha pass for smart out where you live?
6
@Robert
What? Do I have to spell it out for you? Have you really watched that video? The original from any other source not the White House?
watch it again. let me know if you need help seeing his shove on the woman's arm.
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus
Evidently you do not have the capacity to distinguish between a doctored video and actual facts. Acosta has been set up by trump, saunders, and company. Don't offer proof that the public is that easily manipulated.
4
Jim Acosta's trademark is to bully his way to the front and be confrontational. Let's face it, if Acosta came knocking on our front door or showed up at our place of business with that approach, most of us would call the police. And everyone's appalled that Acosta's press pass was pulled? Just because the president acts like a jerk doesn't give Mr. Acosta the right to act like one also. Quite frankly I was surprised that Acosta hung in there as long as he did before Trump cut him off at the ankles. One other thing. Before the opposition gets too carried away with the modified video clip accusation, they'd better be sure they've got evidence it was actually done.
3
@Kurt Pickard
The liberal opposition knows they are lying. The have gone full tilt opposition. They want a civil war.
Well, at least he didn't body slam a reporter to the ground the way
a certain congressman from Montana did recently. Regardless, that congressman was hailed by our current POTUS who brags about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue in broad daylight and getting away with it. More's the pity.
6
How can anybody be taken in by this manifest doctoring of the original film. How can it have become a matter for debate instead of one of mockery?
5
Millions of people watched the press conference and know the truth. Acosta was intent on getting his question answered and he politely refused to give up the microphone. He probably pushed the bounds of civility by not giving the microphone to the intern, but he certainly did not in inappropriately push or resist her efforts to grab the microphone. If anything, the intern was invading Acosta's personal space.
Trump for his part was obnoxious, rude, and bullying. He insulted Acosta, CNN and the press core in general. One of the two men was the president, the other a journalist. I'm more concerned with the lies from Sanders and the general incivility of the president than anything Mr. Acosta did.
62
Sorry Sarah -- the real question we need to answer is: Did you use altered video to make it look like he did something he didn't.
Another relevant question is: Are you intentionally bearing false witness to excuse the behavior of your boss?
If the answer to either question is yes (and it sure looks like it is), then you need to resign.
17
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus
And where exactly can one find the "original video" now? What source doesn't have reason to have altered it? Is there any source people who view this from different perspectives could view and agree was "neutral"?
I don't think there is. I simply don't believe anything unless I see it live -- and even then, I'm skeptical.
2
@JM
Pick one. Your choice. I don't think the video was altered at all. It was just zoomed in to show specific detail. That's not altered. Look on the video they say wasn't altered.
He shoved her arm. it's plain as day on any of the videos.
Not true , the video is real and untouched.
He deserved what he got.
5
@There I suggest you view the original, unedited version of the video, and then ask yourself why someone created an edited video of this 15 second encounter.
7
Were you there in person?
2
@There
Real. yes.
Untouched- No. The speeds were adjusted by an editor. That is why it was said to be "edited".
Not OK.
2
King Donald thinks he should never have to explain himself, because our government is none of our business. He resents questioning from anyone but the Fox News sycophants, which he will tolerate because they give him all the latitude he wants to lie and meander on and off topic, and they never press him for real answers. He loves nothing more than the sound of his own voice, pontificating to a rapt audience. But, insist on a real answer, call him out as the liar he is, and it's, "off with his head," figuratively speaking (though I've no doubt he would if he could). King Donny will not be questioned. We, his subjects, must just accept that he is wise and good and that whatever he does is correct. And, millions of his subjects do just that.
12
@Ms. Pea
I propose that next time President Bone Spurs has a press conference that all legit outlets stay away. The room will be empty save for the loyalists from Fox. He'd be right at ease spewing his continued lies and Fox will continue to print said lies. An all around win-win for the faithful.
6
The press corps should stop attending WH briefings, and stop publishing and broadcasting the gobbledygook coming out of Trump’s press office.
Why are the media acting like Trump’s tools, legitimizing his ravings by repeating them endlessly in print and over the air? Why are the media acting as megaphones for misinformation and lies? Just stop covering what he says and tweets, period.
Journalists should take the pulpit, the microphone and the camera away from Trump and do their job: use the media to provide an accurate, factual account of what’s going on around us so that we — your readers, listeners and viewers — can make informed decisions.
Let Fox, Twitter and InfoWars make Trump’s case for him. The Trump Show isn’t any more newsworthy than reality TV.
11
I agree whole heartedly, take the bully pulpit away and force trump to try being presidential rather than this chaos and harm to so many. stop this disgrace right now. we can't wait for Congress to be in session. the press has power it has forgotten to exercise. wake up!
Americans should not accept any of this from the White House. Barring reporters, relying on edited footage to do so and blatantly lying are outrageous. These are not normal times.
23
@Andrew
Forget the White House video. Look at the original. It's plain as day. he shoved her arm. look at the entire video. Gawd! I can't comprehend how you can't see it.
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus Seriously? It’s hard to imagine more innocuous contact. Give us a spell.
3
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus link of the video that you saw please?
2
If you watch the official video, someone signals that young lady to move up from her seat & try to take the mic. Acosta did not touch her first or push her back. She assaulted him by placing her hand on his arm first. He just pulled away. What "fake" videos will trump use next? The "caravan" riding tanks & carrying grenade launchers? Immigrants sleeping in the nice cabins on Minnesota's lakes? There will be no stopping his lies now with "fake" video to back them up. SAD!!!
15
This was clearly a setup to ban Mr. Acosta from the White House. Mr. Trump was being rude with him before he started to ask questions.
13
It's just impossible for this administration not to be shady.
15
It is neither interesting nor illuminating that the comments saying Jim Acosta was the aggressor are from red states in the south, it is expected. Much like it is not surprising that Trump refers to Southerners as dumb.
SHS should resign but will probably get a raise and a pat on the head for using an altered video.
Meanwhile the death of our Republic continues one press conference at a time.
One term or less.
11
Nixon hid most all of his tactics, but not Trump. He brazenly thinks he can get away with it all...because, so far, HE HAS!
6
Trump and his administration didn't rely "on a misleadingly edited video from a contributor to the conspiracy site Infowars," it was exploiting Russian-Stalinist style dezinformatsiya. This is nothing but a piece of far-right wing disinformation in a sea of right wing disinformation collectively meant to destroy America's free press, a blatant and deliberate lie. This is how authoritarian regimes are built, with autocrats making up their own facts and then disseminating them so as to destroy and totally delegitimize truth to justify their illegal acts.
Trump is using this piece of far right-wing white supremacist propaganda to gaslight the public and consolidate the power he holds, already largely unconstrained and not subject to the rule of law. The Times needs to lay out what this is and draw direct parallels to the previous and current authoritarian and fascistic regimes.
This is false information with the intention to deceive public opinion, the very definition of dezinformatsiya. If the Times keeps waiting to call this what it is, when it's finally ready to it will be too late. By that point, whatever the Times writes will be meaningless, assuming it will even be allowed to write anything other than what Trump tells it to write. If this seems unrealistic, look at how Hungary's Viktor Orban used exactly the same kind of disinformation to so undermine that country's free press that he was just able to take it all over and now uses it for propaganda purposes.
9
So cadet bonespurs and his cabal are citing Alex Jones as a creditable source? Get out the tin foil hats and make them mandatory for anybody working at this wh.
11
Leave it to Trump and his criminal entourage to enlist the services of InfoWars to promote their warped version of what transpired in that briefing. They won't be happy until they have completely destroyed the First Amendment and all it stands for. When is The Times going to call for his resignation or removal from office? Does democracy have to be completely extinguished in America before he is stopped? Please, save us!
8
Whatever the speed of the video, it clearly shows that the female intern was the aggressor, as is her angry and increasingly desperate treasonous boss.
10
Why call on Acosta if you don't like him so much? The President was looking for a fight and he got one.
8
Have we heard anything from the WH intern who was allegedly assaulted, or is everyone else speaking for her? It seems like her perspective is a giant piece of this story that is conspicuously missing.
4
There is zero credibility left for Huckabee, Trump and the gang of professional liars.
Circulating doctored video from right-wing nut job Alex Jones is a new low for an administration that hits a new nadir weekly.
This is banana republic Kremlin stuff that only fools the fools who circulate it.
8
Will the ministry of propaganda be a cabinet post?
6
Good riddance to rude disrespectful Jim Acosta.
2
@John
Holding onto a mic is not accosting someone.
4
This "journalist" is shown:
"“If you look at original, higher-quality videos from other vantage points, you can more clearly see that while there was some contact between the reporter and intern, he did not strike her as his hand comes down,”
No one says "he struck her" -- he obviously used physical contact to avoid giving up the microphone as requested.
It is correctly characterized as "inappropriate behavior".
The video is not"misleading" -- the MSM misrepresents the video to protect one of its own -- one who is quite guilty.
The NY Times seems to support this hypocrisy.
Journalists are guests in the White House and guests at Press Conferences. They are expected to obey the same rules of behavior as the general public -- possible should be held to a higher standard because they are professionals.
Acosta soiled his own nest -- and in his hubris has rightfully lost his privilege.
2
@Kip Hansen
The video was doctored and then posted by Sanders. Shouldn't the people working in the White House, including Trump, also adhere to the same rules of behavior as the general public? After all, they don't own the White House, We The People own it and we are entitled to expect honesty from any and all administrations. This administration seems incapable of honesty.
64
@Kip Hansen
She did not request he give up the mic she assaulted him in an effort to take it away from him without saying a word.
16
@Kip Hansen
Kip, using your reasoning, the intern made the first improper contact when she went to take the mic away. The whole point of the video is to make it seem as if as if he did have a hard contact, as opposed to benign move to keep the mic.
Journalists are not guests in the White House; they are there doing a job. Trumps hates the press, and CNN in particular, is clear. The republicans in Congress are too afraid to stand up to Trump and his antics, so it's up to the press to call him out.
22
In what possible sense is it appropriate for a WH aide to attempt grabbing a microphone from a reporter, no matter how irritating his or her questions?
Has anyone ever seen such a thing before, in any press gathering with an elected official, at any point in modern political history? Has our unstable president broken new ground yet again?
33
For sure Acosta is a provocateur, but as a journalist he’s free to behave that way. And if you watch his colleagues in that video, you understand that they were very much interested in seeing how the President and WH staff would react. Acosta did his job when he got the President to tell him to shut up and sit down. He has shown the country that this President behaves like he’s shooting an episode of The Apprentice.
18
This headline needs a stronger and more accurate word than “misleading.”
15
Thank you. How about Soviet-style disinformation.
3
"Trump Administration Uses Misleading Video to Justify Barring of CNN’s Jim Acosta"
Let me help you with your headline.
Not "Misleading Video", but "Fake Video".
Or, how about "Trump puts out fake news for the one thousandth time."
25
It was pretty clear to me that President Trump wanted to avoid the question - Why do you call this an 'invasion'?
12
Although it might be playing into the hands(no pun intended) of this treacherous Administration, I do hope that Mr. Acosta through counsel files a defamation action against the intolerable Huckster Sanders. Someone has to call to account the Fake President's primary propaganda stooge and a fountain of lies, falsehoods, and misrepresentations in her own right.
13
No wonder Huckabee Sanders did not believe Dr. Ford- SHE is the one entirely capable and willing to lie about a man "laying his hands on a young woman" to weave some narrative.
Trump's "sensitivity" to the young aide also rings completely false after his "grabbing genitals" statements that everyone not in the depths of denial remembers clearly.
This is a huge deal. Not only should Sanders apologize for using a doctored video, she should be fired. This is not normal and not OK.
26
The wh sinks to another low. No one is buying this, unless you’re stupid.
14
Unfortunately, we are not at a loss for narrow-minded and yes, stupid people.
2
I think the NYT article needs to be edited. It says:
"Then there were the players: a showman president and an ambitious television correspondent in the spotlight. Mr. Acosta sometimes elicits eye-rolls from others in the White House press corps, who wonder if his aggressive questions are meant less to draw out information from Mr. Trump than to create a camera-ready spectacle." The evidence for the conclusion that Mr. Acosta is "ambitious" is, apparently, the unattributed "wonder" of less "aggressive" competitors in the press pool. This is really sloppy and and detracts from Mr. Acosta's service to the public in asking hard questions.
11
Clearly the administration is attempting to bamboozle the nation by doctoring the video. When will they be held accountable?
10
We are living the book “1984”. The government manipulates, lies and brainwashes. The White House’s actions are incomprehensible and Huckster-Sanders should be jailed for her co-conspiracy of deceiving the American people.
Abhorrent. That is the word of the day.
35
@Radha
And still the republican caucus is silent. How many more days?
10
@Radha
Well the reality of 1984 began in 1968 with Nixon's WH run and reagan's public speaking, maybe even earlier. It was at first hamfisted and ineffectual. But over time it got better.
By the time reagan "won" in 1979 it had gained traction and was gaining speed. FF to today the GOP has been using these tactics exclusively since reagan won in November 1979.
6
@Radha
It is a good word for this Republican government.
3
Nearly every photograph and video selected by this paper for political articles is manipulative - without being actually manipulated. With SO many images to select from these days, the whole idea of doctoring photos to influence public opinion has become quaint. They clearly have an eye for unflattering selections and are now hypocritically complaining about Ms. Sanders' video choice, falsely implying in their headlines that it was manipulated and bringing up barely relevant, ancient material to discredit "Ms. Sanders — who once encouraged Americans to view the work of James O’Keefe....". This article should be embarrassing, I would think. In this particular case, Mr. Acosta clearly protected the mike from the woman administering it, who attempted first with her right hand and then with her left, which he did physically prevent (however slight).
The increasing POWER that news outlets have in selecting (and presenting) image content and data to us is the real issue here. Just look at chihuahuas and St. Bernards. Genetic engineering can't touch the results of breeding programs, i.e. strong artificial selection.
3
@carl bumba
There is a difference between manipulative selection of video and actual editing of video into fake form. Sanders distributed the latter, crossing a line that justifies her dismissal.
5
So, you agree Huckabee Sanders is lying.
2
@Emory
Thanks. The very odd thing about this article is that there is NO link to the video in question. It seems that the video's editor selected image sequences from within a video of the event, and then repeated or highlighted them. Though probably manipulative, image content and sequence of the original video were apparently not manipulated or "faked". The pool of images that NYT, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, etc. select from for a given article is far greater and, consequently, likely has more power for manipulation. No one can ride a high horse here.
I doubt many journalists would feel particularly wounded if Chris Wallace criticized their journalistic behavior. If the best you can do is, "You, on the lunatic fringe. Tell us. What do YOU think?", that's not terribly illuminating. Pretty much everyone has a right-wing racist uncle who spends Thanksgiving telling us how great Trump is and how immigrants are all gang members. We get the picture.
8
THE PRESS IS FEEDING THE BEAST. TIME TO PULL THE PLUG!
Reporters and news outlets should stand in solidarity and seriously limit the time and attention they give Trump. He manipulates the media and they are loving it. Indeed, it was the media that put him in office by giving him extensive "free" press. But, hey it was a boon for them and for that they are complicit in this toxic environment. Frankly I was more taken aback on how he treated Yamiche Alcindor. Castigating her and calling her question--and implicitly her-- racist for asking a relevant question regarding his use of the word "Nationalist"— jeez, he was downright crude. His tactics to mangle and distort questions or call on certain individuals as a ploy to demean others, inflate his ego, or divert the press away from other significant news is his typical playbook-- all part of his conniving. And yet it is the press that continues to feed him. The press needs to be much more discerning about covering him. He clearly used this news conference to divert and distort and the press gave him all the fuel he wanted. They should walk out en masse with such comportment or the news stations should simply PULL THE PLUG!
23
This administration is made up of George Orwell kind of tactics. Where is the Congress while our Constitution is being burned ever day? Do your job, Congress. We are not supposed to be a Monarchy.
10
@Tricia
I fear that congress, at least the Republicans in the Senate, have been bought and cowed by wealthy fascists such as the brothers Koch. We are in great danger.
3
It’s time for journalists to leave the Whitehouse and have another building (e.g. Washington Press gallery) where the President must come to answer questions. This would make it clearer to the President and the Administration what they apparently do not understand, namely that the press is free and that they are not there to answer to or serve at the pleasure of the President. In a other building a moderator determined by the press pool should determine who gets to ask questions, not the President and certainty not some intern from the WH.
The press itself should accredit those entitled to attend and ask questions at these sites. That way the WH would not have any credentials to revoke.
8
@Marc
Great idea, actually. With zero chance that any credible source from the so-called administration would be attending. A - because no credible source would be authorized to attend, and B - therefore, it's simply all lies in another setting.
4
Intern did a "terrible"job of securing the mic from Acosta. This administration likes winners. Trump should take charge: you're fired!
3
It wasn’t “misleading”- it was DOCTORED. It was FAKE. It was a overt LIE. Call it was it is and start calling Sarah Sanders what she is- a lying traitor to America and a complicit stooge for Trump.
21
@Suzanne Coe "Fraudulent Video" from InfoWars.
3
The more time passes, the bigger genius Orwell becomes.
11
Rules are confusing these days. As per Trump, shooting somebody along Broadway is OK but asking a question at the White House gets you fired. Who is on first here?
20
@rudolf Trump would never lower himself to shoot someone "on Broadway." He was class-conscious careful to specify "Fifth Avenue." He'd never build a Trump Tower on Broadway! In imagery, the wealthy don't venture west of Fifth Avenue.
3
Thank you NY Times for publishing such a self-aware piece. Yes the video is outrageous, but as the article points out it is also essentially meaningless and meant to distract from the real issues at hand. Finally catching up to Trump's game!
11
When I watched the bizarre news conference Trump was giving and saw the interaction, I thought the woman was the aggressor. This is just another Trumpian distraction. You can smell his panic. Go Mueller!
19
If Sarah Huckabee Sanders would sink so low as to show a doctored video from a previously discredited source, what’s taking her so long to doctor the photographs and video of the crowds at the President’s inauguration?
10
@It’s News Here
I think they already tried that but it looked so ridiculous they put it back in the 'dirty tricks' drawer.
8
@It’s News Here
They're simply too busy keeping up with the stream of lies and deception that gush from the misfit's mouth to backtrack on historical lies.
5
@It’s News Here
"sink so low"?
It's par for the WH course, and there's a 'mulligan' for that!
2
Obstruction of justice by any other name is still obstruction of justice. To quote the Donald. Lock em up.
8
Sanders is creepy, from her monodrone voice to her trailer-truck doggedness in over-riding any question or imparting any trump-lie.
But this time, she's really reminding me of her dad.
The last time I saw Huckabee, The Dad, he was standing on a stage with a minister and the minister was calling for the deaths of gays.
Dad Huckabee was nodding and smiling and applauding him on.
I regret that Sarah was raised around such men, but now she's passing the torch of lies.
It is well past the time for her to go.
Her "ethical lapses" are coming at a faster clip, as are trump's.
Yes, I watched that whole Zoo Moment.
And now I have to listen to more of her lies.
This is Citizen Abuse. I will never forgive Republicans. Ever.
28
The point of this article is the White House staff's intentional exploitation of a misleading video clip to maliciously defame someone they don't like. If anyone thinks an actual physical assault occurred perhaps they should question the intern herself and get her perspective. So far the only unambiguous assault evident here is on Jim Acosta's reputation.
19
What boggles the mind is why so many continue to grant Trump the respect a real president deserves. He lost that respect a long time ago. Yes, he was entitled to it at the beginning, but he has made it clear he is the illegitimate spawn of an arrogant, prevaricating, thuggish autocratic. Respect a criminal? Not a chance.
18
Acosta is rude, disrespectful and acts as if rules do not apply to him.It was about time to be loosing his credentials.This is not the freedom of the press.
2
Trump is rude, disrespectful, and acts as if rules do not apply to him. It's about time he gets removed from office. We still have freedom of the press, much as fascists like Trump hate it.
23
@GDK Seems to me he was just doing his job, asking pointed questions. What do you expect from a reporter?
As the Trump White House sees it: If you don't like the questions, snatch the mike away! (she sneekily got it on the second attempt...)
The childish press conference will be rememebered a long time and much parodied on T.V. The truth is is that the White (house) Supremecy is scared to the core by such a big voter turnout, undisputedly it was a 'blue wave'.
9
@GDK
Trump is: "rude, disrespectful and acts as if rules do not apply to him. It [is] about time to be loosing his credentials."
6
"...the White House News Photographers Association said it was “appalled” that the White House had distributed the Infowars clip." Seriously? After two years unrivaled chicanery, how can anyone any longer be shocked by the depths to which the Trump administration is willing to plumb to advance its agenda? On the upside, this could be one of the final nails in the Huckabee-Sanders' coffin.
6
Trump lies, Trump whines.
He looks and sounds unhinged
If he wasn’t destroying our country, I’d feel sorry for him.
13
Dear Republicans,
If you see something, say something.
16
Based on previous acts of this administration, one may suspect the intern was directed to take the microphone from Mr. Acosta. The scene and was then used as a ruse to deny him White House privileges.
8
Why not ask the woman herself what happened?
5
Trump's people won't do that because the intern might tell the truth.
7
The title is blatantly wrong - it is not a "Misleading Video" but a doctored piece of propaganda. Aka, a lie to the American Public. Literally fake, and not a true representation of the events.
15
Again. You need to call it for what it is. Not "misleading " it was doctored, alerted to show something that did not happen by the white house. It's the truth. I'll continue to read your paper but Washington Post and PBS are more real. BTW, as horrible as she is, it's not about Sarah Sanders, she does whatever she's told to do. Disappointed again.
3
Scott Adams asked Peter Duke to analyze the conflicting videos.
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1zqJVOylvaPxB
which suggests that the claimed doctoring of the video by the right was nothing more than frames being dropped by Twitter from uploaded videos.
@Jack
Oh, sure. Just a simple mistake, coincidentally coupled with a anomalous taking of press credentials from a correspondent.
You nailed it!
2
When the white house press secretary presents doctored video from a site know for lies and conspiracy theories as justification for interfering with free press, that press secretary should resign. In disgrace. This is wholly unacceptable. What an embarrassment to our country.
12
Acosta was set up. The president called on him, knowing he would get a tough question. The president then feigns indignation and scolds CNN as if he were a victim. He performs for the cameras as if he were at one of his rallies, a canned speech replete with “the failing CNN”. A young woman then appears and approaches Acosta and grabs at him, eliciting a defensive reaction to which he said “pardon me”. . This is filmed, edited, and then used to force the reporter out of the press pool. This did not happen by accident.
17
@Woody
You're probably right. Which in a perverted way is reassuring that these two-bit B-movie scoundrels are getting minimally competent at their loathsome acts of undermining our country.
Smacks of kompromat, no? Gee, I wonder where Trump's stooges picked up that trick?
2
Trump is a gigantic threat to our country without this incident with Acosta. Trump needs his foils for ego inflation and because he needs to fight. The smoke from his fights blind many to what is really going on. He didn't and doesn't want this job. But now that he has it, he will play it like all of his failed business adventures----fast and aggressive. When you don't care about others and your ego is always front and center, there will be damage and destruction. Too bad the GOP cannot grow a backbone and defend our laws and the constitution.
9
@Paul Raffeld True the GOP shoul remove Trump like a cancer to save themselves, alas, his meger success is their downfall.
This was not a misleading video.
This was an intentional piece of propaganda issued by the WH. This may be criminal given they are falsely accusing someone of an assault.
This is another piece of "don't believe what you saw (the actual news conference), believe what we tell you. we are the truth."
Does anyone think that if he had acted as the wh claims, there would not have been a swift and strong reaction in the room?
This is propaganda and needs to be labeled as such by the NYT. Do not be complicit. It took too long to call out 45s lies, don't make the same mistake with obvious propaganda.
11
Has he asked for his credential to be reinstated?
2
Interesting, how the reporter wanted the WH Intern to respect his wishes, simply with a "“Pardon me, ma’am”; thereby allowing him to continue to disrupt the press conference -- disrespecting the President. Why do these people covet such a position, yet devalue that position with such behavior/
Just a part of Trump's treason.
PROSECUTE RUSSIAGATE!
3
Ms Sanders should be concerned with her boss's truly inappropriate (sexual harassment) behavior toward women instead of relying on doctored videos to self righteously suppress a journalist Trump dislikes. Despicable.
8
Please excuse Sanders. She subscribes to the Kellyanne School of Alternative Facts!
1
Come on NYTimes!!!! "Misleading" video?!? It is obviously doctored video - edited to make it look like something happened that didn't. Side by side comparison with actual unedited footage clearly shows this and is easily found online. What are you so afraid of? Put the 2 videos on your website and call the one Sarah Sanders put out for Trump what it is - FAKE!
4
Ridiculous. It was impossible to avoid their arms bumping into each other considering she went to grab (the new normal-aggression with impunity) the microphone from under his arm. What does the 'intern' say? Did she sign an NDA?
As for tough questioning, watch how this is respected and expected (even if not welcomed) in countries with democratic ideals that vote for and employ presidents / prime-ministers etc. to represent them. (In undemocratic countries people lose their credentials, and worse.) The majority of the press has gone easy on Trump and Sanders and allowed the executive branch to control the narrative with propaganda.
Helen Thomas was sidelined by Bush for asking tough questions and demanding honest answers. She said: “If we don’t have the courage to stand up and ask a question when we are so privileged, we have defaulted on our profession.”
Authoritarian countries get flak for government controlled information passing as news. The frightening thing here is that the government don't even have to own the newspapers and TV, many journalists do it voluntarily, either by practicing self-censorship or worse acting like employees for the Ministry of White House White Wash.
6
Seems to me that, at this point, if Sarah Sanders says something, it is a lie. It's clear enough that Jim Acosta got banned from press events because he asks tough questions, and it's also obvious that the Trump administration hates tough questions because the truth makes them look bad. This is also why Ms. Sanders does nothing but lie.
Trump holds about one press conference per year, and this is because he hates being questioned, because again, the truth makes him look bad. He doesn't want to be questioned, he wants to hold endless rallies in front of his witless admirers, where he can lie as loudly as he wants.
Seriously, this whole administration is built on lies, and they don't seem to get it that once they're finally out of power, the truth is all going to come out, making it clear that this was the worst president America has ever had.
72
Acosta's behavior is over the top at times, but there is a more important issue here. If we have to endure the Trump/Sanders version of the truth for two, or (hopefully not) six, more years none of us will remember what truth looks or sounds like. There are way too many pathetic liars in this administration - from the top down. For now, we need to remind ourselves when we see or hear anything from them - look at more sources for what really is the truth.
8
Dear Press Corp.:
Please, for our sake, and in solidarity, stop giving Huckabee and Trump an audience for at least 3 months, since neither of them are addressing real issues when they respond to you - they're disgusting and tedious, they're lying through their teeth, and we're all sick of what they do whenever you ask them anything of substance.
Don't even bother.
When my friend had a four-year old daughter who had temper tantrums and took them grocery shopping in my car, I was so tired of her daughter's unrelenting caterwauling that I got in my car and left them there.
I stopped for some coffee and went back ten minutes later.
Guess what - my friend's daughter stopped playing that game. The grocery-shopping went on without the tantrums, and the ride home was refreshingly quiet.
Trump should be treated the same way.
14
This is just the beginning use of false misleading and manipulated images and sound to derail the future.
Ethics is not in the Trump vocabulary.
16
When I first saw the Trump - Acosta exchange, I was taken aback by the aggressiveness of the aide in trying to grab the microphone from a journalist. You can see her surge with entitled power and then bristle that her power is not heeded.
Her look back in frustration at Master Trump when Acosta doesn't give in is symbolic to me of an administration that thinks it can do what it wants to whomever, whenever. Thankfully, it also represents how inept the Trump regime is at carrying out its aggressive power grab.
The Trumpy bullies of the world just need to be stood up to.
33
The next step will be only allowing Fox News (I mean Trump's state propaganda network) to question the president, and only by asking questions that have been submitted in advance. It's no secret that Trump resents having to explain himself. He believes he should never have to justify anything he says or does. Trump sees no link between himself, the reporter and the public, which is why he uses Twitter. In reality, Trump thinks explaining himself and his policies to the public is unnecessary, and that everything we need to know he will say at his rallies and on Twitter. Using doctored video to claim the right to ban a reporter is very typical Trump behavior.
14
So many people, Acosta included, seemed to have forgotten that it is President Trump. He is the President. He was elected, who do you think you are talking to? Or questioning? Where do people think they are?
4
@rexl Presidents are not Kings. They are public servants, elected by the people and answerable to them. If you prefer to live in a country where the leader has supreme power, perhaps North Korea would be more to your liking.
7
@rexl News Flash: Reporters ask questions! That's their job and they, like the president, are working for us. Sometimes these questions have answers we want to hear. There's also this thing called "Free Speech"
5
@rexl
The Onion? Andy Borowitz?
1
"If a tree fall in the forest and there is no one to hear, does it make a sound?" Reporters should self-impose a moratorium on attending DT's press conferences, don't show up, let him blather to an empty room. He craves attention and never says anything worth reporting.
15
@Anne Russell I think they should keep showing up and take control instead of allowing the WH to control the narrative. If the 45th or his enablers don't answer the question, lie or sidestep the next journalist repeats it and on and on until it is answered or the person walks away. It would expose the malfeasance of government officials who are the employees of the people.
2
If a man tried to wrestle forcefully a mic from a woman, do you believe there would even be a remote possibility to interpret it as a wrongdoing by the woman, because she made contact?
I am aware that this is a different point from the debate, but it illustrates two things:
1) the absurdity of the claim by Ms. Sanders.
2) the increasing risk for respectful men to go about their everyday life and still somehow manage to be accused of inappropriate behavior towards woman.
7
I can only imagine that if Trump had his 'druthers, the current press room would be shut down completely and turned into a 24-hour fast food joint.
Mike Judge's dystopian film "Idiocracy" (2006) comes closer and closer to our present truth every day, alas.
10
At this point in the Trump presidency, nothing surprises me.
He has surrounded himself with the best people all right. The best people if your baseline vetting protocol is for anyone who shines his shoes and blindly idolizes him.
I remember during the debates in 2016 who he was angry at Meghan Kelly because she "wasn't nice" to him. Wasn't nice.
It is easy to manipulate Donald Trump. Just be nice to him.
13
History will not be kind to Sarah Huckabee Sanders. And her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on will learn about her lies, hate, anger, disrespect towards others and truly breathtaking meanness. It’s all recorded, documented, for future generations to witness and judge.
111
I saw this in real time, he committed assault and battery in the White House. Under other circumstances a slap on his face would have resulted or perhaps worse. He is arrogant, and entitled, if the president did anything like this impeachment would be talked about.
8
@vulcanalex
Wow. I too saw it in real time, with other family members. We saw it completely differently from the way you did. Acosta was in no way the aggressor in that situation. We were all astounded by Trump’s rudeness.
20
@vulcanalex. Yes, Acosta made two mistakes. First, he believed that the microphone was his and second that a physical reaction to it being moved on to others was OK. Neither is correct. He needs to check himself and get help.
4
@vulcanalex
How odd. I also saw this in real time and witnessed nothing of the kind. The irony in the reference to 'the president'' is breathtaking.
16
When is the media going to stop tip-toeing around SHS and Trump? Call them out on these lies. Confront them as one unified group. Make their press conferences uncomfortable for them by demanding the truth. As it is, WH briefings are so infrequent they may as well be non-existent so why is this charade allowed to continue?
Your colleague, Jim Acosta, has been specifically targeted by Trump. Your office have been called with threats from people all too happy to believe the noxious lies that are told by Trump and SHS, as well as FOX. Handling these people with kid gloves isn’t working. Confront them and force them to try and defend these lies and expose them for the frauds that they are.
59
Every news outlet should be condemning Sarah Sanders for using real fake news.
86
I watched the full, unedited video of the Trump-Acosta interaction. I am frequently critical of reporters for 2 of their behaviors.
First, they often only pretend to ask a question. What they do instead is make a statement that is critical of the other person but essentially add a question mark at the end.
Second, they are very often not aggressive enough. They ask a question with the other person evades answering. Rather than persist with the question, they let the other person redirect the conversation to a different matter. The reporter then abandons his original question.
However, in this case, Acosta was certainly not guilty of either of those 2 deficiencies. But I think Acosta's behavior was inexcusable. After a few back and forth exchanges with Trump, Trump emphatically made it clear that he would not answer any further questioning by Acosta. At that point, Acosta should have stopped and sat down. Instead, he persisted to question Trump even after Trump called on another reporter. When that happened, Acosta was extremely rude and disrespectful of the other reporter by talking over him to continue addressing questions to Trump.
In this case, I think Acosta should be barred from future news conferences due to his disrespect for and interference with other reporters asking their questions.
12
@Errol You did not mention assault and battery on a female. For that he probably should be arrested.
2
@vulcanalex
Thanks for your implied support. But I disagree with your legal-value system that implies that assault and battery on a female is worse than assault and battery on a male.
Furthermore, when I watched the full unedited video, I did not see any intentional assault and battery on anyone.
31
Assault on a female? Seriously? You must be watching the Info Wars version...
7
Although it is this administrations consistently ham-handed approach, it is a dangerous escalation. We are now moving beyond denials of was said, on to digitally manipulating videos showing what happened.
41
I wonder if the press will call Sanders on this or if this act was successful in its intent and no one will speak up.
32
"And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth." - George Orwell
This is why a free press is our best defense against Trump's authoritarianism.
Some have called for the press to boycott WH press briefings. That will only serve the administration's wish to end them. The more effective protest would be to cease distributing video and audio of the presidents words.
53
It is very disturbing to learn that people in our White House are reading, never mind using, messages and videos sent by an extreme right wing conspiracy theorist web site.
129
And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'
-Orwell 1984
48
These are the same people that edited the video from the Helsinki News Conference in order to create their version of the "alternative facts."
Two more years...........
Lock him up!
56
When this president is frustrated by his own inability to construct reason he resorts to violence. This pattern of his own behavior appears over and over, unashamed, the president will use force when deception fails as truth and common sense also does with this president. He employs enablers Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kelly, he jettisons Sessions as a threat to his deceptions.
22
@vulcanex Perhaps you should watch the undoctored original version of the video. There was no assault, only incidental contact.
7
@vulcanalex
Please look at the real video and not the doctored piece.
6
@vulcanex - That is simply not true. Look at the undoctered video to see that the intern put herself into the arc of Acosta's gesticulating hand as she tried to take the mic. What you saw was doctored video that slowed down the original to make it look as if Acosta's hand stayed on the intern's arm when in reality, it was an unintended bump because the intern put herself there. You should be concerned that the office of the president resorted to such obvious fakery and that you were willing to believe it.
5
There need to be more Jim Acostas in the room. Hit Traitor Trump
and his evangelical christian stooge of a press secretary every time they open their mouths. Enough with the "Mr. President" niceties.
60
That doctored video was brought to you by the Ministry of Propaganda, purveyors of fake news.
119
Wannabe dictators gonna do what wannabe dictators do.
#Thetruthshallsetyoufree
47
The nyt should provide a link to the video in question ( perhaps I missed it? ).
16
I'm happy to see that there wasn't a link to the video. We shouldn't spread that any farther. it's a lie. Sarah Sanders is supporting and spreading the swamp of lies that Donald Trump spews. We should call them out as the article does, without spreading them further.
22
@lyn they could provide a link to the original undoctored version.
Fake News for real.
33
One has to wonder who will hire this woman when her career as unabashed, unapologetic Trump propagandist finally and mercifully comes to a close. I'm thinking Fox News, but I doubt Sanders could pass the White Sofa Test.
36
Since November 2016 I have been very worried. I am still baffled at how little people on the Republican side have tried to stop Trump, first to be the nominee, and since this perpetual chaos. It's a shame !! I am very sad for your country, for all non-Trumpers, and for the rest of the world.
44
Lest we forget where trumps hands have been.
58
Time for the White House press corps to make a public demonstration in support of Mr. Accosta - and in support of themselves. Which one of them is next?
50
So the Whitehouse, via Sanders, boots out CNN but welcomes Alex Jone's world of "Infowars". It's beyond the wildest Orwellian fantasy of dysfunction to watch the President's press secretary pollute the public airways with material from the vilest propagandist in the country. And yet, nothing but a yawn from shellshocked America traumatized by the avalanche of daily national disgrace. Next the President will be campaigning alongside faux journalists of state media and state clergy. The mythology of American Exceptionalism has been resoundingly disproven.
77
@Rudy Hopkins
Rudy, he already is. The Fox is in the henhouse and on the stage.
3
More lying from the White House and no consequences for it except some outraged reporters and Times readers. They get away with everything, big or small. Whatever happened to accountability?
38
Jim Acosta is the Sam Donaldson of our times. The president calls the media "fake news" because they are required to state the facts and not just rubber stamp Trumps made up world. I have never been more amazed at the hard work the news organizations have had to perform to provide the American people with the facts associated with Trump and Trump's alternative facts.
42
Trump picked this fight, and tried to pick more with other WH press members at that press conference, as a diversionary tactic to avoid talking about his bad election results. Since Trump is now personally running his communications department, this kind of thing will only get worse.
43
I think he ought to own this. While he is a narcissist, he needs to be back in the press room. Voluntarily seek anger management counseling, document the process and bring a gold plated apology to the young intern he definitely did make contact with. She was clearly taken aback by his actions, and that should not be lost in the discussion.
7
@skyfiber: The intern wasn't taken aback, she just didn't know what to do.
2
Misleading, NO, they fabricated evidence to quiet a critic of the Administration. say what they are doing NYTs.
76
is there a way that the entire group of White House reporters can show their solidarity in supporting CNN and the principle of a free press? What if none of them showed up for a WH press briefing?
33
I had the same thought. Then I realized these press releases are ratings gold for them and they’d never do it.
5
@Mark Free press is not free to assault press. It isn’t what YOU think about the contact he made with the intern or what NYT thinks about it, attempting to minimize it. It is what the WOMAN he touched thinks, and she MUST be believed.
4
@Mark - Then only Sinclair and Fox reporters would be asking questions. Trump would probably think he won that battle (as he always does).
5
As an attorney, I recommend that Mr. Acosta sue Ms. Sanders for defamation.
Her use of a doctored video from InfoWars to falsely accuse him of battery on a White House intern was the reckless disregard for the truth that New York Times v. Sullivan permits to be actionable.
Additionally, at the next White House press conference conducted by this President, the entire press corps should politely stand, turn around, and leave him standing at the podium by himself with his lies and attacks on the First Amendment.
That visual will speak louder than all of the hand-wringing editorials combined over this White House's demonization of the press.
194
@Didier Like Di Fi with Ms Blasey Ford, your advice is contrary to the actions he could take to help him the most. If he will intentionally and physically restrain the arm of a woman, he needs anger management counseling.
2
Well, as soon as it is clearly intentional and "restraining"--rather than obliviously moving an arm forward, not expecting someone to reach across his body to pry something from his grip and unintentionally colliding--that may become relevant.
21
Great idea, but how is this going to be coordinated without the WH finding out?
2
Chris Wallace says Acosta “embarrassed himself” at the news conference? Chris Wallace embarrasses himself every day by working for Fox News.
205
When all is said and done; the trump administration will be held in contempt forever. Forget those who support him. They will always be a minority of anti-intellectual know nothings, and will always vote against their own self-interests. They will always grouse at subsidies allocated to others, but not themselves. Their limited world will never open their eyes to a wider joyful world of knowing others of different cultures. They will think of themselves as superior, but remain ignorant of anything beyond their own self-imposed fences. They see guns as a phallic symbol of strength.
46
Ah, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Another Evangelical “Christian” who spits on the words of the Lord on a daily basis — in this case “Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness.”
Daddy the preacher and Mommy the enabler must be so proud of their little liar, continually bearing false witness for the entire world to see.
187
Don't believe what you see, don't believe what you hear, believe what I tell you. This is the Trump message to his cult, in the face again of clear and undoctored proof.
This is how terrible events like the Rwanda massacre and the Holocaust in Europe happen- creating doubt about the truth, creating a new story out of whole cloth in order to promote a destructive policy based on lies.
58
I’m not sure why it is so hard for liberals to acknowledge that at the very least, Acosta acted like a primadonna and a jerk. Until such an obvious thing is admitted, Democrats won’t be taken seriously by undecided voters.
8
Until the GOP can admit that Trump’s behavior is of a prima donna and a jerk, well....
39
@Princess Leia
What liberals? Tell me where they are. CNN is just a news network reporting the news. I know you folks can't handle that. It's bizarre how terrified Republicans are of the truth.
1
What! You expected honesty?
8
Could Hannah Arendt's lived experience be our's?
“In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true. ... Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie ... The totalitarian ... leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that ... one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism. Instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.”
~ Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
Thank you John Messerly for your insight and perspective.
27
Chris Wallace is clearly losing credibility. His on air sparring with Sheppard Smith last week was very telling that he is biased and at times his views are unsound. Citing Wallace in this article further lends credence to Acosta. Jim Acosta should sue Sanders, etal. Sanders is destructive to democracy.
33
The WH wasn't this upset when they found out staffer rob portman put his fists on his wife.
66
The hand contact with the young intern was accidental. She reached, as Acosta was speaking, to take the mic from him. But as with many "facts" that emanate from this White House, the filmed footage cannot be trusted for the proposition of his intentional push. Manipulation of the facts is to be expected from this Administration that moves inexorably to despotism. Apart from their icky efforts to silence Jim Acosta, we are not distracted from some other truths of that Press Conference. The President was unfocused, mean, petty, retributive and gratuitously cruel to his defeated Republican colleagues -- by name. He chose to make it personal. It was loathsome. He kicked them on the very day after humiliating and painful losses. He was also openly hostile and demeaning to April Ryan and Yamiche Alcindor -- the two most prominent black women in the White House Press Corps. But we've come to expect nothing more from this President than his special snarled, lip-curled disregard for blacks -- especially for black women. What has this country done to itself?
231
They will be air brushing people out of photos next. The Soviet Union redux.
32
@John
Imagine how far Stalin could have gone with Photoshop.
7
@Ed L.
Stalin didn't need photoshop. Have you seen that black comedy The Death of Stalin. In it a concert has to be repeated because the broadcaster hadn't recorded it and Comrade Stalin wanted a copy. This actually happened. Just imagine if Comrade Trump could just repeat his greatest hits and stage events to his liking. Acosta being forced to sexually assault Sanders on camera. Gruesome.
1
@John
I did indeed see that film. But to your original comment, Stalin's henchmen used actual airbrushes and darkroom techniques to "disappear" from photos those apparatchiks who fell out of favor with the party. Imagine what he could have done (and what the propagandists of contemporary strongmen are doing now) with digital tools. Soon only an expert will be able to tell the difference between an actual CNN broadcast and a doctored one. And the social media mob are no experts.
1
Lies, lies, more lies, and now doctored videos. Yet more proof that the Fox News/InfoWars/Republican party is rotten to its core.
32
Trump relies on Infowars for video "proof"? Talk about fake news by a fake "news" organization. Shame on Trump and his cronies!
25
And the censorship begins...
16
Why does the Times continue to use watered-down language to describe actions by the administration, especially in headlines? "Misleading video"? It's a doctored video, i.e., intentionally edited to create a misleading impression. This is a completely different animal from an undoctored video that, out of context, gives a misleading impression.
You have been called out on this by the Columbia Journalism Review and probably others. Please stop. You claim to care about truth: show it in your headlines and in your articles.
105
It is one thing to suspect and another thing to know. The NYT does not know the mechanism whereby the video changed. Therefore, they do not write "doctored." This is called journalistic integrity and it is first among the many reasons why I read the New York Times. I commend to readers the Hannah Arendt quote in these comments, which provides the foundational argument for the crucial importance of journalists and journalistic integrity.
5
The media is partly to blame for the fact that Trump is wining the war against the press.
When a reporter started to defend Acosta, Trump replied that he was not a fan of him either. What did the room full of reporters do. They laughed at his remark. They should have collectively rebuked Trump.
69
@LC
The media is NOT to blame for the actions of a man who deliberately misleads people every time he opens his mouth.
13
@matty
They play a role in it by not taking visible action. I think the press often ask long-winded, pointless “questions”, but I dread the day when the only ones left to do so are the milquetoast toadie who are willing to conform to the outrageous standards the President is now implementing.
2
This article is just not true:
Go view the video yourself, do not listen to this article. There was more than benign contact, he withheld from the young woman the microphone. He pushed her arm away.
Don't believe me, go watch the video, definetly don't believe this article.
4
The doctored one, or the original one?
In the original one, he clearly wasn't even looking to see her arm was coming. He didn't push it away, he was surprised he made contact, as indicated by both the turn of his head and his words.
I would not reflexively believe the above comment, nor even mine, if we're going to give directives on the subject.
7
I don’t know which video you are suggesting we watch. I was watching the question and answer session as it was broadcast live and I saw nothing like what you are inferring. I saw Acosta twist away from the young woman to prevent her from snatching the microphone from his hands and I heard him apologize to her.
19
Says the leading purveyor of 'misleading', when they're not outright lying, coverage of Trump.
5
To accuse a journalist of some kind of physical misconduct towards a woman is a serious accusation and cannot be sustained. And to then suspend his access as a result of this lie is a new low. Video evidence in a room full of professional observers makes this clear cut. Sara Sanders must apologise now as well as reinstate Jim Acosta’s access. Trump’s daily pity party when it comes to his media coverage is self inflicted damage.
26
Sarah "Huckster" Sanders further diminishes her gravitas, which to date had been already severely diminished, by becoming an advocating party to this fraudulent video clip. The president can't be diminished any further, as we all well know.
Acosta may be a human "gnat" at press conferences, but that's how he interprets his job. Simply silence or "thank you, next" in reply to him would probably be a more effective reply. Any teacher is more adept than the president in this regard!
Finally, for thinking citizens, it is becoming increasingly apparent which corporations are legitimate press and which have become part of the Trump entertainment network. CNN might well think about that.
4
Trump gets his daily briefings watching Fox News and scanning Infowars on his phone.
The briefings provided by his staff, Intelligence agencies and the military are too boring and dull, plus Trump doesn't comprehend that much of them.
The only judgment call made was the number of clicks the posted video was getting online. Was it high? Good enough!
Anyone expecting anything resembling truth out of the mouths of Sanders or Conway or anyone else in the White House is fooling themselves.
Trump lies with every breath and expects the same of those who support him.
Facts, truth and decency were so last administration.
They don't play in Trump's Reality TV presidency.
What's on Fox News though?
Plays 24/7 in Trump's head.
That and thoughts of "How much did they love me today? Wasn't I great?"
15
Presidential press conferences are not open forums for political discussion. Acosta's ever-escalating contradicting of the president and innuendo laced into every question is unacceptable. (Is this and editorial or a news piece? It's clear what happened no matter what video you watch. The side view allows us to witness Acosta's gesturing with his hand in the intern's face repeatedly to get her to move away.) Good Riddance!
6
We can’t get lost in the nuance of what happened here. The current Administration of the United States doctored a photo/video for the purpose of demonizing a news outlet that they do not like and using it to justify removing a journalist from said news outlet. Full stop. Their corruption and lawlessness is out of control and one must hope that the Democrats who will soon control the House will be doggedly aggressive in holding them accountable at every turn, every day, for every single lie.
23
Well said!
3
I watched it in real time and it is clear he used he is left forearm to keep her away; which is making contact. Not to mention the other reporters were clamoring for their turn at the mic. He was completely out of line. I’ve watched presidential press conferences since Nixon and have never seen behavior like his. What this article should say is, “ Jim Acosta made a fool of himself and embarrassed the entire press corp.”
6
I was watching the press conference with my wife when the "confrontation" occurred. It showed the guy in the White House revealing his true colors. We both commented about how unstable he seemed. He has no even keel.
The icing on the cake, showing a heavily edited video, reveals the Administration's disdain for the truth. Every citizen needs to see the video for what it is: A bold-faced lie!
27
There is no justification for the White House banning of CNN's chief White House correspondent from covering the President. Jim Acosta and other accredited journalists have sparred with Trump's grossly unqualified Press Secretary, Sarah Sanders (Sean Spice's successor) for two years. Ms. Sanders has antagonized and vilified the American and world press in her rare as Arkansas hen's teeth White House Briefings. Now reduced to one frantic 30 minute briefing per month. Questions about the president's behaviour from the White House Gaggle in the Press Office during those hurried briefings are rife and batted away or ignored by Trump's frowning and angry press chief. Questions unanswered. No communication at all between Sanders and the press. She is wearing a tin-foil hat and short dresses in primary colours and galumphs off the podium as soon as she can. The American press is looking forward to not being kicked around much longer by Sarah Sanders. Journalists, reporters, the Fourth Estate -- after president Trump's smug and vituperative post Midterms East Room press conference this week -- are looking forward to praising and forgetting Huckabee-Sanders in 2019.
9
I agree with Margaret Sullivan that CNN should sue on First Amendment grounds. The rest of the free press should stand in solidarity with CNN and boycott press conferences at the White House until such time free and unfettered access to the press is restored.
5
Trump is weak and getting weaker by the day. His Administration is a comedy reality show.
9
The example that others in the press were annoyed by Mr. Acosta was only Chris Wallace of Fox News? Self-styled Mr. Gravitas himself? That’s just not convincing.
Fox News is not the home of professionalism in the newsroom, editorial department, or even set design and graphics. Did you see their election night set? Regional TV. While statistics nerds and drama geeks run MSNBC, at Fox the JV jocks get a few credits for operating the equipment during their journalism elective.
Mr. Acosta will get his credentials back because Mr. Trump, though a tyrant, is a lazy tyrant who will find it easier to just give them back rather than have to explain himself on an ongoing basis.
2
Why is the New York Times not posting both videos on its website so we can view them ourselves? To see them and be able to compare them would be much more effective than to read about the alterations to the tape.
5
@RG. You can find them in two seconds elsewhere. I think nyt does not want to disseminate further the fake video.
2
Handmaid's Tale 101.
4
Ms. Sanders, who blatantly and continuously lies to the American people on behalf of a corrupt administration, offers a doctored video to support her latest shameless lie.
Imagine that. No surprises anymore.
12
“Alternative facts” are the self/described lies that define this White House.
4
Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders compete every week for the title of Mistress of Fairy Tales, Fictions, Myths and Propaganda. Trump did not want any distracting young nubile beauty queens nor models as his primary spokes persons from our White House.
Meanwhile Hope Hicks is holding down the Trump Ministry of Propaganda at Fox News in collaboration with former Fox News executive Bill Shine in the White House. And Sean Hannity is the outside reliable Fox Court Jester for Trump.
7
The human concepts of honesty, shame and decency never existed in Trump land. The article means nothing to them.
6
The point that matters is Trump's 95% (ers) believe it because Trump's White House released it. Trump will, certainly, retweet it dozens of times to support his hate filled, fact free tweets to his America; 52 million or so descendants of those who embraced the Jim Crow era and pushed for the Scopes Monkey Trial.
3
There was a reason freedom of the press was included on the very first amendment...even ahead of gunny guns for everyone.
Where are all the right wing phony constructionists now? Hellooo??
8
It was a doctored video, not a misleading one.
Please be factually correct.
24
Sarah Saunders has lost any claim to honesty or personal integrity. She now occupies the territory of loathsomeness once reserved for higher level figures in the stinking mess that is the Trump administration.
I don’t know how she can face her own image in the mirror unless by rationalizing that the ends justify the ugliest of means.
6
We are not standing down trump!
4
Perhaps Alex Jones will be the next AG.
He’ll fit right in.
4
Trump did not want to answer the question so he made the reporter the issue.
The question avoided was about intentional fear-mongering of an “invasion” of immigrants to inflame voters against Democrat candidates.
As the writer H. L. Mencken noted: “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”
I choose not to be deceived by this administration.
37
CNN should stop giving Trump so much house room. It's playing into the Trump craving for attention. Cover his press conferences but stop the endless bloviating by "experts" who often are anything but. Relentless free coverage helped put Trump in the White House and stopping all that air time would help to destabilize Trump's need for media power.
Having said that, I applaud Mr. Acosta's aggressive reporting to get at the truth. That professional reportage is totally different from constant speculative opinion on CNN. We need reporters like Jim Acosta; they are the lifeblood of the free press/media.
21
@kay o. Agree about stopping all the attention on trump but if CNN (and MSNBC) stopped all the bloviating they'd only be on the air for a couple of hours a day.
2
@Hazel Actually, they'd then have time to report on all the deplorable things the GOP is doing while using Trump as a distraction.
1
There was contact because the intern reached across his chest and made a physical grab for the microphone, not because of anything Acosta did.
Sanders' statement implies that Acosta initiated contact, but it is the intern who caused the incident...a lame attempt at silencing a member of the press through sheer physical means, without verbal communication.
That Sanders would provide doctored evidence to support her claim comes as no surprise. It is beyond clear that, in this administration, we are looking at a bottomless pit...there is no "lowest" to which they will go...only how much lower, and when, and how.
196
This week had it all, American friends: the impacts of years of gerrymandering and voter suppression once again delivering republicans far more seats than their real support; the firing of an attorney general with the quick installation of an unqualified, unvetted ultra-partisan to the role; the issuing of blatant propaganda to vilify the press, to gaslight a fervent base. And just to make the week peak America, there's a mass shooting - by a Afghanistan veteran with PTSD, no less.
This, all right here, is how your democracy is being dismantled. It's the absolute tipping point that is screaming 'this is what America is now' to the rest of the world. Can you see it?
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@Andrea I always feel that the comments from other countries are the most harsh in a way because they are so accurate and honest from someone looking from the outside. What a thing it is to contemplate this past week. Thinking about joining you in a better country, like Canada!
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Across the ocean we in Europe are all watching too and we are shocked and cannot believe what is happening to your wonderful country! A lot of right wing populists here are watching too and will feel encouraged. This will have an effect on the whole world and that is my biggest worry. The democratic countries need to be role models for other countries and people who are not as fortunate as we are!
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@Andrea We see it. We see it up close, and many of us noticed it long before you did.
Yet we cannot stop it.
You can't imagine what that's like.
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Gaslighting has to be the word of the year as it is happening daily in this administration.
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The TV stations better get on board and watch things first out of the WH bc they’ll be the first thing shut down when more censorship starts. Then where will the top 1% make their money.
Analysis by a video forensics expert clearly shows that the video was edited--slowed down in one part so the time sequence would equal that of the AP video and then sped up the contact to make it appear as though Acosta actually chopped at the intern's arm.
It was an intentional attempt to alter the facts, so of course Sanders posted it. She does nothing but lie to the press, and I often wonder why any reputable journalists bother to attend her briefings.
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@Marilynn I've mentioned it on another article, but I imagine they go because that might be the only way to get facts and not "alternative facts". I would rather NOT get all the information from the less than reputable journalists that would just say whatever the white house wants. Because they'll still go and report that out.
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Again why do the TV stations air it. We don’t want to see this anymore. Move on reports. Let them talk to nothing. It’s all lies anyway.
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@Marilynn
They attend because a) it's their job, and b) gathering and disseminating facts is bigger than Sanders or Trump or any other ephemeral liar.
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Isn’t this exactly the sort of situation that Trump warned of to stoke fear towards Democrats during the Kavenaugh hearings - that anyone could be accused of anything? And now here he is repackaging reality into whatever distracting narrative he heeds this week. Don’t fall for it.
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He's still running a reality show. He can differentiate truth from fiction, I think?
He's actively and obviously creating his "lying truth". Before our eyes the truth, the original interactions is being manipulated into his reality.
He needs to be grounded into reality by the public, the press, the new house.
He's unfit to serve
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@ABC
At least 40% of america is unfit to be served by a decent president. The tragedy is that they are dragging decent people into the pit with them.
The physical confrontation was instigated by this president. The president's assistant chose to approach a reporter asking a question because the president said to do it. This is as obvious as the playground sandbox our Oval Office has been turned into.
The president has repeatedly stated the endorsement of physically and verbally attacking reporters. Recently at a campaign rally the president demonstrated how Greg Gianforte physically assaulted a reporter from The Guardian. An act Gianforte apologized for after assault charges were made. The reporter's glasses were broken.
This president has a history and patterned behavior of accepting violence when he cannot verbalize or legitimize a response or opinion. The president has the power to direct his staff. In this case it was an assistant who followed orders making the physical advance.
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Amazing how an assault on a female intern by Acosta becomes Trump’s fault. Keep it up an Democrat’s will never win in 2020. This is exactly why Trump won.
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@Princess Leia please describe exactly how there would have been an "assault". Use descriptions, instead of parroting.
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@Princess Leia Dear Princess, the reporter held a microphone that belongs to the taxpayers. This was not a board meeting. This was an invitation by the president for him to answer questions. If the question made by Acosta was so abhorrent, the president could easily and quietly have said "no comment". Instead, this president resorted to the kind of behavior he performs at his rallies. He enabled a microphone handler signaling the handler to enter the reporter's space. The reporter was asking a question with a microphone to his chest. The handler decided to grab at it.
That microphone is the property of the American taxpayer. This president thinks it is his the same way he thinks Jeff Sessions is his property, too. Jeff Sessions is a dolt, but he is not this president's dolt or any other president's dolt. He is the Attorney General of this union of states, not this president's.
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How ironic that Trump is supposedly protecting a young woman from unwanted physical contact from a man while at work. Trump instructed this woman, his intern, to pull the microphone out of a reporter’s hands while at the same time accusing said reporter of rudeness. We have now reached the point where Americans are so willing to believe him that events entirely visible on live television are re-packaged and sold in edited versions for storytelling. Brain-washing through propaganda is the communications strategy.
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@gf
So who is the intern? We have a face. Now we need her name with her background and history. Trump owes her an apology and needs to ask for her forgiveness in full public view and real time. Certainly Ivanka and Melania are outraged over the malign Trump misogyny. Right?
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@Blackmamba The intern who tried to physically and aggressively wrest the microphone away from Jim Acosta doesn't deserve an apology from Trump or anyone else; she deserves to be fired and charged with assault. She also needs to apologize to Mr. Acosta for her disgraceful behaviour. There is ZERO excuse for manhandling the press - even if directed to do so by the President of the United States.
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@gf
I prefer the Stephen Colbert description:
Her job as intern is to suppress the first amendment. She was just doing her job (and apparently continues to do it by not objecting to the false video footage). This is what young Americans learn when working in the White House.
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