CNN’s Jim Acosta said he nearly always encounters President Trump’s supporters chanting, “CNN sucks,” and other jeers while covering the president’s rallies.
“This happens at just about every Trump rally. I’ve covered five presidential campaigns… long enough to know this isn’t normal,” Acosta tweeted, accompanied by a video of Trump rally-goers shouting, “CNN sucks.”
“Sometimes I’ll scan the crowd, not for the folks who are chanting but for the people who look back at me silently, letting me know they know it’s wrong,” he added.
This happens at just about every Trump rally. I’ve covered five presidential campaigns… long enough to know this isn’t normal. Sometimes I’ll scan the crowd, not for the folks who are chanting but for the people who look back at me silently, letting me know they know it’s wrong pic.twitter.com/1U2nPi5PQR
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 29, 2020
Trump has repeatedly condemned Acosta and his network as “fake news” during press conferences for bias in reporting.
Most notably in 2018, Trump called Acosta a “rude and terrible person,” adding that he didn’t treat then-White House press secretary Sarah Sanders well.
“You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN,” he said. “The way you treat Sarah Huckabee Sanders is horrible.”
“When you report fake news, which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people,” Trump added.
“You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN,” Donald Trump tells Jim Acosta during a heated press conference https://t.co/sJ08LdI2IA pic.twitter.com/iP98oKclju
— Bloomberg (@business) November 7, 2018
“CNN sucks” was also heard in the background as Acosta reported live from a Trump rally in Florida earlier this month.
“And as this crowd is chanting that there are members of the press here who suck, I should also point out what also sucks — getting the coronavirus,” Acosta says in the clip in response to the jeers.
