Fox News anchor Sean Hannity sought to defuse escalating tensions with CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta late Wednesday after the pair swapped insults over Acosta’s treatment by President Trump’s supporters.
“Jim, I’m a pretty prominent conservative in the country,” Hannity said during the opening monologue of his show on Fox News Wednesday. “Let me say this clearly and loudly. I want every journalist in this country, everyone, I don’t care who you work for, to be safe.
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“And I’ll tell you right now, I will be the first person to come to your defense if I’m there and anyone ever dares lay a hand on you. If I was standing there, if I see it happen, I will be the first person to jump in and fight on your behalf,” he continued. “Physical violence is never acceptable to me, nor is it acceptable to the conservatives I know and respect.”
Hannity’s softer tone follows Acosta and his war of words after the crowd at a Trump rally in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday booed and heckled Acosta, prompting the CNN reporter to express worries on Twitter about his physical safety.
“I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt,” Acosta wrote on Twitter after the event, along with a video. “We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy.”
Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy. pic.twitter.com/IhSRw5Ui3R
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 1, 2018
Acosta’s comments led to Hannity suggesting later Tuesday that people “were screaming” at him because they did not like his “unfair, abusively biased treatment of the president of the United States.”
Acosta then hit back Wednesday, tweeting that Hannity is “a propagandist for profit, peddling lies every night.”
“He says he’s just a talk show host, not a journalist,” Acosta added. “But he’s injecting poison into the nation’s political bloodstream warping public attitudes about the press. I’m confident in the long run the truth will prevail.”
Hannity is a propagandist for profit, peddling lies every night. He says he’s just a talk show host, not a journalist. But he’s injecting poison into the nation’s political bloodstream warping public attitudes about the press. I’m confident in the long run the truth will prevail.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 2, 2018
