Poor Jim! WH Reporters Comfort Acosta After Trump Calls Him a ‘Fake Reporter’

August 5th, 2020 5:11 PM

If there ever was a reporter who didn't need an ego boost, it would be CNN’s Jim Acosta. Yet his media colleagues rushed to defend his honor after President Trump called him a "fake reporter" in a Wednesday morning tweet.

So what prompted the tweet from Trump? Well, as CNN often does, they spent Wednesday morning hyping an anonymous source who was trashing the President as incompetent on the coronavirus pandemic. According to Acosta’s report, this source who was “familiar with Trump’s meeting with his coronavirus task force” said, “He still doesn’t get it.” That quote made its way into several CNN reports on Wednesday. After Acosta breathlessly shared this tidbit, Trump immediately shot back at Acosta with this tweet questioning his credibility:

Of course, Acosta’s equally anti-Trump journalist colleagues covering the White House were eager to defend the CNN hack. CBS’s Weijia Jiang was effusive in her admiration for Acosta:

Her CBS colleague Paula Reid agreed:

Playboy White House Correspondent Brian Karem reacted as you would expect:

Despite slamming Acosta as a “rude” opportunist in his latest book, ABC Chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl also felt the need to defend Acosta’s reputation:

But CNN’s own PR team went over the top with this really unprofessional and petty comeback: