Press corps supports CNN's Jim Acosta and calls Sarah Huckabee Sanders for a "complete lie"



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Journalists and members of the White House press immediately defended CNN's Jim Acosta after the Trump government revoked his credentials.

Acosta was involved in a heated exchange with President Donald Trump during a lengthy press conference following the White House elections earlier Wednesday. After repeatedly asking questions of the president, causing a riot, a trainee came forward to try to pick up a microphone CNN reporter who came to avoid it. In the ensuing hours, Acosta said the secret services had prevented her from entering the White House and that press officer Sarah Huckabee Sanders had claimed that the journalist had got hold of the young woman.

This account provoked a public outcry from many political journalists.

The White House Correspondents Association, a coalition of journalists covering executive power, has made public his strong objections to the move, calling the decision "offline" and "unacceptable".

"Journalists can use a variety of methods to do their jobs, and the WHCA does not control the tone or frequency of questions its members pose to senior government officials, including the president," the group writes. "Such interactions, as uncomfortable as they may seem, help to define the strength of our national institutions."

The group urged the White House to "immediately reverse this weak and erroneous action" and encouraged the audience to watch the video of Acosta's interaction with the trainee.

Peter Baker, White House Chief Correspondent for The New York Times, said that decision was a "very bad sign" and something that he had never seen since I started. started covering the White House in 1996 ".

"The other presidents did not shy away from the tough questions," Baker writes on Twitter, noting that Trump may have intentionally asked Acosta to pick on him. "S he really thought [Jim] was unfair, so why did he appeal to him? Because he wants confrontation. "

Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason, who said sitting next to Acosta, said he did not see his colleague "laying hands" on the young intern. "

Others have called the move "incredibly worrying, "Simply say"did not arrive"Or noted that the administration was probably trying to manufacture a"new controversy for the base "after the mid-term elections.

Even Ben Shapiro, a notoriously conservative commentator, defended the CNN reporter, writing to Sanders that her story was "not what happened."

"You could have banned it simply for refusing to respect one of the normal rules of the newsroom," wrote Shapiro. "No need to say something that did not happen."

Other reporters have noted that although, as BBC's Jon Sopel said, Acosta could be aroyal pain in the ass"For Trump, he was just doing his job.

Despite criticism, Sanders doubled the White House decision on Wednesday night by posting a video on his Twitter account that played a loop-through moment, slowing and expanding the movie.

"We will not tolerate inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video," she wrote.

CNN was alongside Acosta and shared the same "world view" video interaction on Twitter.

"This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better," CNN said in its statement. "Jim Acosta to our full support. "

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