Odds Say Jim Acosta Won’t Get his White House Press Pass Back By 2019
- CNN reporter Jim Acosta has had his White House press pass revoked
- Press Sec. Sarah Sanders claimed that Acosta “placed hands” on a White House intern, posting footage
- But it turns out the video was doctored
The Democrats have reclaimed control of the House and the President isn’t handling the news very well.
Once again, he’s directing his rage at the media and CNN reporter Jim Acosta is again bearing the brunt of it. This time the White House went one step further and revoked Acosta’s press credentials, claiming that he “placed hands” on a White House intern.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted a statement with footage of the incident. But it turns out the footage was doctored to make it appear as though Acosta struck the intern’s arm. You know, Fake News™.
We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018
Odds Jim Acosta Gets his White House Press Pass Back
| Will Jim Acosta Get His White House Press Pass Back Before 2019? | Odds |
|---|---|
| Yes | +150 |
| No | -200 |
The footage tweeted by Ms. Sanders was created by an employee of InfoWars, a crackpot conspiracy website that has been banned from multiple platforms for spreading misinformation.
A frame-by-frame comparison of the original footage and the one posted by Sanders shows some clear differences.
The InfoWars video speeds up, slows down, and pauses certain sections of the footage to make it appear like Acosta is chopping at the intern’s arm. The original footage — the real one — tells a different story.
After the White House video was exposed as a sham, Sanders shifted the goal posts to justify pulling Acosta’s pass. She issued a new statement saying, “The question is: did the reporter make contact or not? The video is clear, he did. We stand by our statement.”
That’s a little rich considering Donald Trump recently praised a Republican congressman for body slamming a reporter.
Compare that to Acosta, who merely pulled away as the intern reached to snatch the mic from his hand. It’s clear that Trump simply wanted to strip Acosta’s press credentials, and his staffers scrambled for some kind of justification.
“Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?” -Donald Trump, May 2018
Understandably, there’s been a lot of uproar over this. A Washington Post writer suggested Acosta sue the White House, a CNN exec called the fake video “absolutely shameful” (see below), and there’s even talk of a boycott among the White House Press Corps.
Absolutely shameful, @PressSec. You released a doctored video – actual fake news. History will not be kind to you. https://t.co/v1w9Lj9TlK
— Matt Dornic (@mdornic) November 8, 2018
So will the White House reverse their decision?
It seems unlikely. Trump has contemplated stripping journalists of their credentials for some time. In May, he tweeted: “Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?”
The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018
Trump has called the news media “the enemy of the people.” Forget about Acosta being reissued his press pass. If anything, this is just the beginning of Trump’s war on the free press.
Pick: No (-200)
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
