There are a lot of ways to describe what CNN’s Jim Acosta does when he shows up for a White House press briefing or a press conference with President Trump: stunt, showboat, grandstand. But you cannot say he’s there to ask “hard questions,” as the New York Times characterized his routine in an editorial Thursday.
After Sarah Sanders said Wednesday she was suspending Acosta’s hard pass, which allows him access to the White House grounds, for his confrontation with Trump at an earlier press conference, the Times portrayed Acosta as a journalistic hero.
“Trump signaled that in his view, asking hard questions — the most basic function of a reporter — disqualifies journalists from attending White House briefings,” the paper said.
This would be true if Acosta had asked a question of any actual difficulty, or even a real question at all, which would have required an open curiosity on his part.
But here’s how Acosta started his “question” about Trump referring to the migrant caravan as an “invasion” while he campaigned for Republicans: “As you know, Mr. President, the caravan was not an invasion. It’s a group of migrants moving up from Central America towards the border with the U.S.”
Acosta prefaces his “question” by first telling Trump his opinion that he’s effectively been lying in calling the caravan an invasion.
And now here’s the hard-hitting part of Acosta’s query: “Why did you characterize it as such and — but do you think you demonized immigrants in this election?”
These are the “hard questions” Acosta is known for, leaving Trump confounded and on the verge of resigning from office.
Just kidding! Trump’s answer was, “Because I consider it an invasion. You and I have a difference of opinion.”
The questions weren’t “hard.” They were a pretext for Acosta to take the microphone and have his moment, an act everyone has seen over and over again for nearly two years.
Here’s another hard question from Acosta at the Oct. 29 press briefing with Sarah Sanders: “Shouldn’t you have the guts, Sarah, to state which outlets, which journalists are the enemy of the people?”
From the Aug. 2 press briefing with Sanders: “I think it would be a good thing if you were to say right here at this briefing that the press … are not the enemy of the people.”
After that one, Acosta was moved to tweet that he immediately stormed out of the briefing room because he was “saddened by what just happened.”
These are not “hard” questions. They’re ploys meant to provoke a fight so that CNN can air it around the clock and analyze how brave Acosta is on a scale of “hero” to “have my baby.”
At the press conference on Wednesday, Trump called Acosta “a rude, terrible person.”
Acosta solemnly declared afterward on CNN, “They go low, we keep doing our jobs.”
Acosta does have a job to do. Asking “hard questions” is very obviously an unfulfilled part of his job description.
