White House bans CNN reporter after Trump calls him ‘rude, terrible person’
- Trump exploded during a press conference after Jim Acosta said he ‘demonised’ migrants in a television advert, then refused to sit down
- White House accuses reporter Jim Acosta of ‘placing his hands on’ female intern who tried to take the microphone from him
The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of a CNN reporter who earlier sparred with Donald Trump at a press conference, in which the US president called the journalist an “enemy of the people”.
A visibly angry Trump called reporter Jim Acosta a “rude, terrible person” after the White House correspondent refused the president’s orders to sit down and give up the microphone during the question and answer session the day after the US midterm vote.
“The White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice,” said spokeswoman Sarah Sanders hours later, referring to Acosta, who then tweeted that he had been denied White House entry.
The heated exchange began after the prominent journalist clung to the microphone and persisted with questions about the president’s views on a caravan of Central American migrants making its way to the US border.
