CNN's Jim Acosta Calls Out Trump as Liar to His Face: "I Think That Our Record on Delivering the Truth Is a Lot Better Than Yours."
February 25, 2020
Acosta’s comments were made at a press conference in India after Trump yet again attacked credibility of CNN. (Gage Skidmore)
MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH
It is a defining moment for democracy, as we teeter on the brink of a full-blown dictatorship. All the signs of a soft coup are there, the corporate media just needs to connect the dots. However, they are generally outplayed by Trump’s rapid-fire violation of Constitutional norms. There are far too many media outlets who still indulge in a “safe” transcriptionist style of reporting “false equivalencies,” balancing the truth with Trump’s more than 15,000 lies.
This is a journalistic crisis. If our media cannot begin to fashion a journalistic style that prioritizes the truth over Trump’s lies and growing acquisition of “unitary executive authority,” our democracy will vanish.
We are left being grateful for small acts of journalistic accountability.
Such was the case when, at a Trump news conference in India, Trump accused CNN of “saying things that weren’t true,” Jim Acosta, whom Trump and the WH communications staff scorn, bit back. “Mr. President, I think that our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours,” chastising Trump.
It’s a small gesture of the press holding Trump accountable, since his administration is a series of shifting lies and the consolidation of totalitarian power, but it is such that we must hail such statements as courageous words amidst a generally craven and docile press corps.
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