Former CNN reporter and host Jim Acosta is the type of person who claims to believe that journalists need to speak truth to power and hold politicians accountable. However, when Acosta welcomed Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to his Friday podcast, Acosta hosted a strategy planning session disguised as an interview as he wondered how El-Sayed would respond to his critics who are “obviously steeped in Islamophobia” and who accuse him of being a socialist.
In Acosta’s bizarre understanding of the world, those who support Israel are being Islamophobic in choosing to support Mike Rogers over El-Sayed before they have even had a debate, “Yeah, and you had a lot of mud thrown at you during that primary battle. AIPAC, as you said, spent millions of dollars trying to defeat you. They've now pledged that they're gonna back Mike Rogers. I guess they're not even gonna take the time to listen to you and Mike Rogers have a debate or—they're all in. But I mean, a lot of this is obviously steeped in Islamophobia, which is obviously horrible.”
Jim Acosta, the man who thinks journalists need speak truth to power, tells Abdul El-Sayed that AIPAC supporting Mike Rogers is Islamophobic or something, "AIPAC, as you said, spent millions of dollars trying to defeat you. They've now pledged that they're gonna back Mike Rogers,… pic.twitter.com/rWanlgx30N
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) August 8, 2026
That’s just dumb. Supporters of Israel do not need a debate to decide who to vote for when one guy slanders Israel with accusations of genocide and the other does not.
However, Acosta kept rolling, “Donald Trump is all in on this. And I'm sure you're seeing some of these comments. We should show, I don't wanna play the whole thing because it's pretty repugnant, but he really is kind of painting you as somebody who is just anti-Israel and anti-Semitic and so on, we should play a little bit of that and listen.”
In the clip, Trump described El-Sayed as someone who is “a hater of Jews and a hater of Israel.”
It is obvious that El-Sayed hates Israel. If Acosta was consistent in his demands of how journalists should interview politicians, he would have asked El-Sayed about his weak response to a Hezbollah-inspired terrorist attack at Temple Israel in Michigan and apparent belief that Ayatollah Khamenei fans are one of his key constituencies.
Instead, Acosta wondered, “Yeah, I mean, what do you say to that? Obviously it's not true, and it's ugly and disgusting, and it's what he does, and it riles people up, and how do you respond?”
El-Sayed used the opportunity to shift to his preferred stump speech, “Look, people in Michigan can't afford their groceries. People in Michigan are paying $5 for gas. People in Michigan are struggling to pay their rent. And this man, he got elected to office saying he was gonna fix all that, but instead he kicked off a war to raise our gas prices even higher. He's busy trying to figure out the colors on the drapes or fix the reflecting pool, which he can't even do.”
Later, Acosta endorsed El-Sayed’s Medicare for All scheme while not appreciating the irony that he was admitting that the people who support such a plan are the same people whose previous attempt at large-scale health care reform failed to bring down costs, “I do think that we should have national health care in this country. I covered the passage of Obamacare and it did expand health care through a lot of people in this country, but people still get extremely painful medical bills in the mail.”
Later, the strategizing shifts to health care as Acosta endorses El-Sayed's Medicare for All scheme, "I do think that we should have national health care in this country. I covered the passage of Obamacare and it did expand health care through a lot of people in this country, but… pic.twitter.com/iKpF7hW8r7
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) August 8, 2026
Nevertheless, Acosta lamented that El-Sayed will be branded as a socialist and wondered how he plans to combat that, “I mean, and that has not gone away, and it really cuts into what people can afford in terms of groc—it can be crushing for a lot of families in this country. And yet, you know, if you, once you start talking about Medicare for All, then you get the attacks on socialism and that you're trying to bring socialism in this country and so on. How do you respond to that, and how have you been making the case on Medicare for All?”
El-Sayed answered by lamenting the high costs of health insurance, but once again, Acosta did not live up to the standard he demands other journalists hold Trump to. Acosta did not question El-Sayed about the long wait times, rationing, or higher taxes in countries with similar systems because, for him, the need to speak truth to power only applies if the politician has an R next to their name.
Here is a transcript for the August 7 show:
The Jim Acosta Show
8/7/2026
JIM ACOSTA: Yeah, and you had a lot of mud thrown at you during that primary battle. AIPAC, as you said, spent millions of dollars trying to defeat you. They've now pledged that they're gonna back Mike Rogers. I guess they're not even gonna take the time to listen to you and Mike Rogers have a debate or—they're all in. But I mean, a lot of this is obviously steeped in Islamophobia, which is obviously horrible, but Donald Trump is all in on this.
And I'm sure you're seeing some of these comments. We should show, I don't wanna play the whole thing because it's pretty repugnant, but he really is kind of painting you as somebody who is just anti-Israel and anti-Semitic and so on, we should play a little bit of that and listen.
DONALD TRUMP: But the American dream for you and your children, the radical left, the maniacs are trying to destroy it with the disaster known as not socialism, but communism. It's communism. These are communists.
ACOSTA: I think the zinger’s coming.
TRUMP: And the polls were wrong again last night when they thought it would be a landslide victory for a hater of Jews and a hater of Israel. This guy hates Jews. Somebody said, "Oh, that's a little strong." No, he hates Jews and he hates Israel.
ACOSTA: Yeah, I mean, what do you say to that? Obviously it's not true, and it's ugly and disgusting, and it's what he does, and it riles people up, and how do you respond?
ABDUL EL-SAYED: Look, people in Michigan can't afford their groceries. People in Michigan are paying $5 for gas. People in Michigan are struggling to pay their rent. And this man, he got elected to office saying he was gonna fix all that, but instead he kicked off a war to raise our gas prices even higher. He's busy trying to figure out the colors on the drapes or fix the reflecting pool, which he can't even do.
…
ACOSTA: I do think that we should have national health care in this country. I covered the passage of Obamacare and it did expand health care through a lot of people in this country, but people still get extremely painful medical bills in the mail.
I mean, and that has not gone away, and it really cuts into what people can afford in terms of groc—it can be crushing for a lot of families in this country. And yet, you know, if you, once you start talking about Medicare for All, then you get the attacks on socialism and that you're trying to bring socialism in this country and so on.
How do you respond to that and, how have you been making the case on Medicare for All?
EL-SAYED: Well, Jim, I'll just tell you this, no matter where I go, I talk to folks who share the most heart-wrenching stories about them or a family member getting sick in America, where we always add insult to injury by hitting you with debt, by hitting you with bills you can't pay, even if you're insured, right, the median deductible for a family of four is about $5,000 now. $5,000 on top of what you already paid every month to provide your family health insurance.
