Jim Acosta has had his press credentials to the White House revoked, with the Trump administration claiming, contrary to evidence, that he manhandled a female intern. The incident occurred during the raucous press conference on Wednesday, when Acosta got into a spat with the president and persisted in asking questions even when told to stop. A female intern tried to take his microphone away from him. During the exchange, when the intern had clearly entered into Acosta’s personal space, there was a brushing of the arms.
I'm posting this close up not to bolster my argument that Jim Acosta did nothing wrong, because I think that's pretty clear. Instead, look at the way this staffer keeps looking to Trump for confirmation on each attempt. It's so creepy. This blind obedience is cult like. pic.twitter.com/PRLBxkoCHI
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) November 8, 2018
To bolster the case against Acosta, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders posted an edited video of the incident where the action is generally slowed down but speeds up right before the moment of contact, to create the false impression of a deliberate jab on the part of Acosta:
We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018
As Ashley Feinberg of The Huffington Post notes, the source of the doctored video Sanders posted seems to be Paul Joseph Watson, the editor-at-large of Infowars.com, a notorious conspiracy theory website.
"He never once touched her."
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 8, 2018
That is a complete lie. He clearly did.
Is whatever you're paid by CNN really worth making a total fool out of yourself for the world to see? pic.twitter.com/vgDynDQWJf