President Trump and the national media - What's Your Point?
HOUSTON (FOX 26) - This week's panel: Jessica Colon - Republican strategist, Nyanza Moore - progressive commentator and Houston attorney, Bob Price – Associate Editor Breitbart Texas, Tony Diaz- Chicano educator and activist, Tomaro Bell – Super Neighborhood leader, Bill King - businessman, columnist and former Kemah Mayo
NEW YORK (AP) - Before hopping on a plane to Paris on Friday, President Trump insulted some more reporters, threatened that others may have their White House credentials pulled like CNN's Jim Acosta and disputed reports that his press secretary spread a doctored video of Acosta's encounter with a White House intern.
During a brief media availability outside the White House, the president gave more fodder to fans who enjoy watching him scrap with journalists.
Trump said "nobody manipulated" a video distributed by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders that showed Acosta resisting an intern's attempt to take a microphone from him during a news conference on Friday. A video expert had told The Associated Press that the video appeared doctored to speed up Acosta's arm movement and make his gesture more threatening; the White House used that encounter to justify pulling Acosta's credentials.
"It wasn't doctored," the president said. "They gave a close-up view. That's not doctoring."
Abba Shapiro, an independent video producer hired by The Associated Press to compare the footage tweeted by Shapiro with the AP's coverage of the news conference, said the alteration made was "too precise to be an accident."
Two late-night comics, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, both said on their shows Thursday that Sanders should be fired for her action.
"The fact that the White House press secretary is promoting this doctored video is reprehensible, and grounds for dismissal," Colbert said.
While Trump called the reporter who asked about the video "dishonest," that was mild compared to his treatment of April Ryan, a White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, and CNN's Abby Phillip.
Phillip asked Trump whether he wanted Matt Whitaker, the newly-appointed acting attorney general, to rein in Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
"What a stupid question you asked," Trump replied. "What a stupid question and I watch you a lot and you ask a lot of stupid questions."
In response, CNN said through its Twitter feed that Phillip's question wasn't stupid. "In fact, she asked the most pertinent question of the day," CNN said. Trump's insults "are nothing new. And never surprising," CNN said.
The attack on Ryan was unprovoked, although the president had appeared upset at Wednesday's news conference when Ryan stood up and asked him, without a microphone, about voter suppression in the midterm elections. Ryan wasn't among Trump's questioners Friday.
"I watch her get up," he said Friday. "I mean, you talk about somebody that's a loser, she doesn't know what the hell she's doing. She gets publicity, and then she gets a pay raise, or she gets a contract with, I think CNN. But she's very nasty, and she shouldn't be."
Ryan became a CNN contributor last year. She said on the network that the three presidents she covered prior to Trump may not have liked every question she asked, but understood why she did so.
"At the end of the day it was part of the American process, it was part of what our Founding Fathers put in place for the accountability of the president of the United States," she said. "This president seems not to like it, so therefore I'm a loser."
Between Ryan, Phillip and Yamiche Alcindor of PBS' "NewsHour," that makes three black, female reporters that the president dealt with harshly in the past three days. Trump on Wednesday accused Alcindor of asking a racist question when she inquired about the president receiving support from some white nationalists.
Trump said he hadn't made a decision when asked by a reporter how long Acosta would remain in the "penalty box." But he said there could be others.
"When you're in the White House, this is a very sacred place to be," he said. "This is a very special place. You have to treat the White House with respect. You have to treat the presidency with respect."
Olivier Knox, president of the White House Correspondents Association, said his organization's board met Thursday with Sanders and White House communications director Bill Shine for what it expected to be a series of conversations about Acosta's status.
Despite losing his White House pass, and the ability to travel with Trump and the rest of the press corps on Air Force One, Acosta went to Paris to cover Trump's meeting with world leaders this weekend.
He tweeted a photo of himself standing in front of the Eiffel Tower early Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) - The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Donald Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference.
They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, "That's enough!" and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of "placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern," calling it "absolutely unacceptable."
The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. "Pardon me, ma'am," he told her.
Acosta tweeted that Sanders' statement that he put his hands on the aide was "a lie."
CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acosta's press pass out of "retaliation for his challenging questions" Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acosta's actions.
"(Sanders) provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better," CNN said. "Jim Acosta has our full support."
Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved.
The post-midterm election news conference marked a new low in the president's relationship with journalists.
"It's such a hostile media," Trump said after ordering reporter April Ryan of the American Urban Radio Networks to sit down when she tried to ask him a question.
The president complained that the media did not cover the humming economy and was responsible for much of the country's divided politics. He said, "I can do something fantastic, and they make it look not good."
His exchanges with CNN's Acosta and NBC News' Peter Alexander turned bitterly personal, unusual even for a forum where the nature of their jobs often put presidents and the press at odds.
"I came in here as a nice person wanting to answer questions, and I had people jumping out of their seats screaming questions at me," said Trump, who talked for nearly 90 minutes despite the run-ins with reporters.
Acosta asked Trump why the caravan of migrants was emphasized as an issue in the just-concluded midterm races, and he questioned Trump's reference to the caravan as an invasion.
"You should let me run the country," Trump said. "You run CNN and if you did it well, your ratings would be much better."
After Acosta asked about the investigation of Russia's involvement in the 2016 election, Trump tried to turn to Alexander, but Acosta continued to ask questions.
"CNN should be ashamed of itself having you work for them," the president said to Acosta. "You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn't be working for CNN. The way you treat Sarah Sanders is horrible. The way you treat other people is horrible. You shouldn't treat people that way."
Alexander came to his colleague's defense. "I've traveled with him and watched him," Alexander said. "He's a diligent reporter who busts his butt like the rest of us."
"I'm not a big fan of yours, either," Trump replied.
"I understand," Alexander said, attempting to ask a question. Acosta stood back up and noted the explosive devices that were recently sent to CNN and some of the president's political opponents.
"Just sit down," Trump said. "When you report fake news, which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people."
CNN said Trump's attacks on the press have gone too far.
"They are not only dangerous, they are disturbingly un-American," CNN tweeted after the exchange. "While President Trump has made it clear he does not respect a free press, he has a sworn obligation to protect it. A free press is vital to democracy, and we stand behind Jim Acosta and his fellow journalists everywhere."
In announcing Acosta's suspension, Sanders said, "The fact that CNN is proud of the way their employee behaved is not only disgusting, it is an example of their outrageous disregard for everyone, including young women, who work in this administration."
The White House Correspondents Association released a statement Wednesday saying it "strongly objects to the Trump Administration's decision to use U.S. Secret Service security credentials as a tool to punish a reporter with whom it has a difficult relationship. Revoking access to the White House complex is a reaction out of line to the purported offense and is unacceptable."
The WHCA called on the White House to "immediately reverse this weak and misguided action."
During the news conference, Trump also turned on reporter Yamiche Alcindor of PBS' "NewsHour." She said that "on the campaign trail, you called yourself a nationalist. Some people saw that as emboldening white nationalists." Trump interrupted her, calling it a racist question.
Alcindor pressed on: "There are some people who say the Republican Party is seen as supporting white nationalists because of your rhetoric. What do you say to that?"
"What you said is so insulting to me," he said. "It's a very terrible thing you said to me."
Alcindor moved on to a different topic. Later, via Twitter, she said that she has interviewed white nationalists who say they are more excited by Trump than they have been about other presidents. "Even if President Trump doesn't intend it, some see him as directly appealing to the racists," she wrote.
Trump told Ryan, of American Urban Radio Networks, repeatedly to sit down when she attempted to ask Trump about accusations of voter suppression. He said she was rude for interrupting another reporter, though he did briefly answer one of Ryan's questions.