In an unexpected twist on the controversial revoking of CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials, Fox News Channel has come out in support of CNN and condemned President Donald Trump.
Despite numerous mainstream media personalities condemning CNN’s recent behavior, including Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Bob Woodward, Fox News announced their support of the news channel that’s often called “Fake News” by it’s most popular hosts.
The channel’s executive board bashed the Trump administration’s decision to revoke Acosta’s press pass, and announced their intention to support CNN’s lawsuit against the White House.
“FOX News supports CNN in its legal effort to regain its White House reporter’s press credential. We intend to file an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court. Secret Service passes for working White House journalists should never be weaponized,” Fox News President Jay Wallace said in a statement.
“While we don’t condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the President and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people,” Wallace said.
Trump’s administration revoked Acosta’s press access in response to his refusal to stop yelling questions even when asked during a heated press conference last Wednesday. When a young White House intern tried to take the microphone from Acosta, he pushed the intern’s arm away in a minor tussle.
The White House said it has “broad discretion” to issue access to the president’s press briefings and said it would fight the legal challenge from CNN and other mainstream media outlets over the revocation of Acosta’s “hard pass.”
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dismissed the lawsuit as “grandstanding” and said Acosta “is no more or less special than any other media outlet or reporter with respect to the First Amendment.”
“After Mr. Acosta asked the President two questions — each of which the President answered — he physically refused to surrender the White House microphone to an intern, so that other reporters might ask their questions,” Sanders said in a prepared statement Tuesday.
Not everyone in the mainstream media is on-board with Fox News and CNN’s move.
Rumors say newsrooms are divided over support — or dislike — of Acosta’s frequent political stunts —
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