CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta acknowledges in a new book he sometimes grandstands and showboats when questioning President Trump and administration officials, but says it’s necessary to elicit information.
In “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,” set for release June 11, Acosta writes that “neutrality for the sake of neutrality doesn’t really serve us in the age of Trump,” according to the Guardian, which obtained a copy of the book.
Acosta also writes White House staffers have privately told him, “The president’s insane,” and they are unsure if Trump was “compromised” by the Russians.
Trump is often combative with Acosta, and his staff have made clear Acosta is among their least favorite reporters. The pair’s spats began when President-elect Trump told Acosta at a news conference he was “fake news,” and moved on to another reporter, over Acosta’s objections.
Once Trump became president, his press shop temporarily revoked Acosta’s White House credentials, after a dispute that aired in which Acosta seemingly wouldn’t give up a microphone. The White House cited what it called Acosta’s physical contact with an intern, which he denied.
Acosta wrote when he had to give up his pass, “Everything in my life began to spiral out of control.”
But after a lawsuit by CNN and other news organizations, the White House reinstated Acosta’s press credentials.
