Extra, extra, read all about it: CNN’s Jim Acosta has his press pass back. Last week, the Trump administration yanked the White House reporter’s credential following a silly spat with an intern over a microphone. CNN sued, arguing Acosta’s due process rights had been violated, and on Friday morning, a judge granted them a temporary restraining order, compelling the White House to return his credential. “I want to thank all of my colleagues in the press who supported us this week,” proclaimed a jubilant Acosta in a statement. “Let’s go back to work!”
And OK, look, this is good news. The administration’s legal argument that it had the right to revoke any reporter’s access at any time for any reason was laughable. The White House isn’t President Trump’s private palace; it’s the nerve center of one of our three branches of representative government. As such, if the White House wants to crack down on reportorial bad behavior, they should develop standards for what kind of offenses would cause reporters to lose access—not just revoke passes willy-nilly when they provoke the administration.
But make no mistake: The lawsuit may be a win for Acosta and CNN, but the story is a win for Donald Trump.
It would be the easiest thing in the world for the White House to turn Acosta into a non-entity, just another cable-news squawker tut-tutting the president’s decisions into a camera from the White House lawn. Call on him, give him bland answers to his silly questions, and move on. Or don’t call on him at all! Instead, time after time, Trump and press secretary Sarah Sanders have allowed Acosta to harrumph them into tiffs that become news stories in themselves. Last Friday’s foolishness, with Acosta white-knuckling the mic and Trump shouting and that poor intern visibly wishing she’d taken some other gig, was just the latest, greatest example.
Why? Because the White House loves it when Acosta is in the spotlight. He’s the perfect foil to Trump, the perfect face for the administration’s constant campaign against the “fake news media.” Acosta’s tedious furrowed-brow posturing and spotlight-hogging and his fixation on Trump’s meanness to the press are all catnip to a president who loves nothing more than to tell his fans that that’s what journalists are all about. Any time Acosta asks Trump a question, Trump gets to make a choice: Do I stay on whatever thorny subject I’m being asked about, or do I pivot to “Trump calls Jim Acosta names”? This president opts for the latter every time.
So congratulations to Jim Acosta for reclaiming his rightful place in the White House briefing room. The celebrity death match nobody asked for will now proceed.
