Former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta urged mainstream media outlets to band together in “collective action” against President Donald Trump’s insults towards journalists.
Acosta made the call to action on the network formerly known as MSNBC, now known as “MS NOW,” on Saturday morning.
The disgraced pundit’s comments came in response to an incident earlier this month where Trump told Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey to be “quiet, piggy” during a press event, after she pressed him on questions related to Jeffrey Epstein’s files.
Acosta described the remark as “disgusting” and argued that if a boss spoke to a female employee that way in any other workplace, they would be fired. The reporter, of course, does not work for the president.
“Other folks in the press in the room should speak up in that moment and say, ‘Mr. President, that is not appropriate,’” Acosta said. “And, you know, double down on the questions that were asked. ‘Why didn’t you answer that question? Why are you resorting to personal attacks? Why can’t you take the heat? What’s going on here?’”
“I think the only solution to all of this is collective action,” he added.
Acosta suggested that major newspapers and networks send a formal letter to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, warning that if Trump doesn’t stop mocking journalists, they would boycott Oval Office press events and travel on Air Force One, leaving coverage to outlets like Fox News until he “cleans up [his] act.”
Hellbound and Down 