CNN anchor Jim Acosta attacked President-elect Donald Trump in a news segment Thursday while defending a free and fair press in America — declaring that journalists “are not the enemy of the people.”
Trump’s frequent antagonist ended his show on the embattled network by preaching about the importance of the media in a democracy after outgoing President Biden, 82, warned that “the free press is being destroyed” in his farewell address to the nation. Wednesday night.
“I want to take a moment to talk about something that President Biden said during his farewell address,” Acosta said at the start of his nearly one-minute speech.
“He warned that the free press is being destroyed in this country. I would add, that’s only if we, the people, let it happen,” he continued.
“Journalists exist to seek the truth, tell people’s stories, raise voices that might not otherwise be heard, shine a light on injustice and hold the powerful accountable,” Acosta added.
“We are not enemies of the people. We are the defenders of the people. Walter Cronkite once said: ‘freedom of the press is not only important to democracy. It’s democracy’.
The apparent message to Trump — which comes just days before he is sworn in as America’s 47th president — appeared to be in response to the president-elect’s repeated comments over the past decade referring to the press as “the enemy of the people”.
Trump has also frequently criticized critical news reports as “Fake News”.
The CNN anchor closed his monologue by holding up a bright pink poster that was given to him by a viewer at the start of Trump’s first administration in 2016. The banner featured a hand-drawn fist holding a pencil below the words, ” I March For Jim Acosta and a free press.”
“I want to find a moment to tell you something. A woman sent me this sign eight years ago,” said the liberal-leaning commentator.
“She held it here at a march on Washington. She wrote on the back of the sign for me and the press here in DC, ‘you have our support.’ Nora, wherever you are, come back to you.”
Acosta, who shared the clip on his platform X, was praised by some for his comments, while others slammed him for his “vain flattery” and “self-importance.”
“I think one thing that makes people dislike media personalities like Acosta — beyond the dishonesty — is this kind of empty self-aggrandizement,” reporter Drew Holden posted at X.
“I think a little less soapboxing would go a long way, not just for him, but for CNN and the corporate press more broadly.”
Biden, the longest-serving US president, also took a swipe at incoming president and ally Elon Musk during his Oval Office speech, claiming “an oligarchy” is on the horizon.
The Commander-in-Chief also called for the Constitution to be amended to ensure that “no president is immune from crimes he or she commits while in office.”
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Image Source : nypost.com