Yesterday’s elections turned out mostly terribly for Donald Trump, which is to say they turned out bright for the future of American democracy. Democrats were able to take the House of Representatives, meaning for the first time in two years they’ll have actual power to oppose Trump and his disastrous administration.
Specifically, it means we’ll finally get to see Trump’s tax returns, it means Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is much safer now, and it means all manner of Republican crimes and corruption will soon come to light.
Trump is, not surprisingly, desperate to paint his defeat as a victory, and has taken to touting the Republican pickups in the Senate, failing to acknowledge that the electoral map this cycle was heavily skewed against Democrats. There is much for the president to worry about now, and during a press conference today his irritable mood was put on full display.
CNN’s Jim Acosta, who has proven time and again that he isn’t afraid to confront this administration directly, stood up to ask the president a question. Usually, Acosta — who has become one of the primary targets of vilification and abuse from the Trumpian right — is sparring with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Today, Trump and Acosta went head to head.
The reporter said he wished to challenge Trump on one of his statements. Trump immediately interrupted Acosta, trying to hurry him along and making disrespectful noises. Acosta forged on and pointed out that Trump incorrectly labeled the migrant caravan moving up from Central America as an “invasion.”
Trump insisted that it is indeed an “invasion” and denied that demonized immigrants to help him drum up votes from his base for the midterms. Acosta brought up the stunningly racist ad Trump ran about the caravan and the president once again defended the video by saying the migrants climbing over fences in it weren’t “actors,” despite nobody implying that they were. Acosta stuck to the facts, explaining that the caravan is still hundreds of miles away.
Sponsored Links
“Honestly, I think you should stick to letting me run the country and you run CNN. And if you do it well maybe your ratings would be much better,” Trump mocked.
Acosta tried to answer a followup question and Trump repeatedly said “that’s enough” while one of his aides tried to snatch the microphone out of the reporter’s hand. The president refused to give an honest answer to Acosta’s question about the Russia investigation and ordered him to put down his mic. Acosta relinquished it, at which point unleashed a stream of insults.
“I’ll tell you what, CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN. You’re a very rude person. The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible. And the way you treat other people are horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way,” Trump said.
NBC’s Peter Alexander stood up to defend Acosta, so Trump attacked him too.
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
“Well, I’m not a big fan of yours either to be honest. You aren’t the best,” Trump said.
Acosta stood back up to interject, and Trump spewed some of his usual nonsense about fake news.
Folks, the president is having a Very Normal One today, and one shudders to think at how he’s going to behave the rest of the year if this is how he acts on his first day of setback.
Watch the stunning clip below.
President Trump to Jim @Acosta: "Honestly, I think you should let me run the country and you run CNN" https://t.co/eeEAI1W9yh pic.twitter.com/RTGF0XdgvJ
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) November 7, 2018
