The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

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Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:22 PM

President Trump Kicks CNN Reporter Jim Acosta Out Of Oval Office After Acosta Badgers President With Racially Charged Questions

President Trump kicked CNN star Jim Acosta out of the Oval Office Tuesday after the network’s senior White House correspondent badgered him with racially charged questions.

Acosta has made a habit of grandstanding and interrupting when Trump and his surrogates are available to the media. Tuesday was no exception, as Acosta yelled, “Mr. President,” three times before finally getting Trump’s attention.

“Did you say that you want more people to come in from Norway? Did you say that you wanted more people from Norway? Is that true Mr. President?” Acosta frantically shouted.

“I want them to come in from everywhere… everywhere. Thank you very much everybody,” Trump responded as Acosta continued to bark questions.

“Just Caucasian or white countries, sir? Or do you want people to come in from other parts of the world… people of color,” Acosta shouted.

Trump then pointed directly at Acosta and simply said, “Out!”

A Trump staffer in the background can be heard saying, “Jim, thank you,” before the CNN star presumably exited the room. Acosta then took to Twitter, accusing White House aides of obstructing him from asking questions.

Acosta has been among the most outspoken critics of President Trump and is a significant part of CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker’s apparent anti-Trump programming strategy. Trump has famously dubbed CNN “fake news” and pointed directly at Acosta and called him by the disparaging moniker in the past.

Last December, Acosta was shut down by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders when the liberal reporter tried to hijack a press briefing. Acosta told Sanders that journalists make “honest mistakes” but that doesn’t make them “fake news” before attempting a question. Sanders quickly cut him off.

“When journalists make honest mistakes, they should own up to them. Sometimes, and a lot of times, you don’t,” Sanders said as Acosta tried to interrupt.

“I’m sorry, I’m not finished,” she said. “There is a very big difference between making honest mistakes and purposefully misleading the American people... you cannot say it’s an honest mistake when you’re purposely putting out information you know is false.”

Acosta has also gotten into combative arguments with other members of the administration including Senior Policy Adviser Stephen Miller. Meanwhile, CNN has been mocked for a variety of anti-Trump segments, such as focusing on the president’s soda intake amid unfolding breaking news related to a terror attack in New York City.

Acosta’s colleague, fellow CNN star Chris Cuomo, apologized on Tuesday after he referred to Principal Deputy White House Press Secretary Raj Shah as “Raj whatever-his-name-is.”

CNN has also aired the uncensored version of the word “s---hole” on a regular basis since Trump reportedly used the term to describe certain African countries. CNN anchors and guests said the profanity 195 times in one day last week, according to the Media Research Center.

Brian Flood covers the media for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @briansflood.