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Jim Acosta turned question-asking into political opinion generation. Are reporters even supposed to render judgment at a Q&A?

BryantD 8y ago
We have the transcript of the exchange. Can you clarify what you mean by "political opinion generation"? ---- Acosta: I wanted to challenge you on one of the statements that you made in the tail end of the campaign in the midterms that … Trump: Here we go. Acosta: Well, I — if you don’t mind, Mr. President … Trump: Let’s go. Let’s go. Come on. Acosta: … that this caravan was an invasion. As you know, Mr. President … Trump: I consider it to be an invasion. Acosta: As you know, Mr. President, the caravan was not an invasion. It’s a group of migrants moving up from Central America towards the border with the U.S. And … Trump: Thank you for telling me that. I appreciate it. Acosta: … why did you characterize it as such? Trump: Because I consider it an invasion. You and I have a difference of opinion. Acosta: But do you think that you demonized immigrants in this election to try to keep … Trump: Not at all. No, not at all. I want them to come into the country, but they have to come in legally. You know, they have to come in, Jim, through a process. I want it to be a process. And I want people to come in. And we need the people here … Acosta: Right. But your campaign had an ad showing migrants climbing over walls and so on … Trump: Well, that’s true. … They weren’t actors. Acosta: They’re not going to be doing that. Trump: They weren’t actors. Well, no, it was true. Do you think they were actors? They weren’t actors. They didn’t come from Hollywood. … This was an actual — you know, it happened a few days ago and … Acosta: They’re hundreds of miles away, though. They’re hundreds and hundreds of miles away. Trump: You know what? Acosta: That’s not an invasion. Trump: I think you should — honestly — I think you should let me run the country, you run CNN. And if you did it well, your ratings would be much better. Acosta: But let me ask … if I may ask one other question … Trump: OK, that’s enough. Acosta: Mr. President, if I may … Trump: Peter, go ahead. Acosta: If I may ask one other question. Are you worried … Trump: That’s enough. That’s enough. Acosta: But, Mr. President, I — well … Trump: That’s enough. Acosta: I was going to ask one other … Trump: That’s enough. Acosta: The other folks have had … Trump: That’s enough. Acosta: Pardon me, ma’am. I’m — I’m — Mr. President … Trump: Excuse me, that’s enough. Acosta: Mr. President, I had one other question, if I may ask, on — on the Russia investigation. Are you concerned that — that you may have indictments … Trump: I’m not concerned about anything with the Russia investigation because it’s a hoax. Acosta: Are you … Trump: That’s enough. Put down the mic. Acosta: Mr. President, are you worried about indictments coming down in this investigation? Trump: I tell you what. CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN. Go ahead. Acosta: I — I think that’s unfair … Trump: You’re a very rude person. The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible, and the way you treat other people are horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way.
- jki275 8y ago
  "Acosta: As you know, Mr. President, the caravan was not an invasion. It’s a group of migrants moving up from Central America towards the border with the U.S. And …" That's where he's rendering a political opinion. It would be quite different if he said something like "Congressman so and so said just yesterday that this is not an invasion and is merely whatever and could you comment" or "There is concern in some circles about your rhetoric in calling this an invasion..., could you address this concern or explain why you believe this is an invasion" or something like those -- but in taking the "as you know" line, he's directly calling the President a liar, taking a political position on the issue himself, and trying to bait the President into arguing with him (which of course the President did as he always does).
  - komali2 8y ago
    I disagree that this is a political opinion. I think this is one party (Acosta) challenging the other (the government employee) on objective fact, as per Acosta's job description. >“If someone says it’s raining & another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out of the fking window and find out which is true.” https://www.google.com/search?q=invasion https://www.google.com/search?q=invasion : > an instance of invading a country or region with an armed force. There are other definitions of "invasion" that can be applied, but why choose the word "invasion" when there are more accurate ones to choose that don't have the negative connotations? It is a bad faith use of the word "invasion" by the government to describe anything other than an actual armed invasion. How should they describe Russian troops landing on US soil if they've already used up the word "invasion" to describe impoverished asylum-seekers? >he's directly calling the President a liar. The president is a liar. He lies all the time. I'm glad the auditors are pushing my employee on this. He's lying about what he's using my money for and that infuriates me. https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statements/byruling/false/ https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statem...
    - jki275 8y ago
      Again, you're missing the point. He's taking a political position, not being a journalist. It's not an objective fact as a significant portion of the US disagrees with you and Mr. Acosta. It's a matter of political discussion and has been for a while.
komali2 8y ago
I didn't see judgement rendered, I saw questions asked. Can you share a video and link to a timestamp where you saw political opinion generated by Acosta, so I can better understand your perspective?

BryantD 8y ago

We have the transcript of the exchange. Can you clarify what you mean by "political opinion generation"? ---- Acosta: I wanted to challenge you on one of the statements that you made in the tail end of the campaign in the midterms that … Trump: Here we go. Acosta: Well, I — if you don’t mind, Mr. President … Trump: Let’s go. Let’s go. Come on. Acosta: … that this caravan was an invasion. As you know, Mr. President … Trump: I consider it to be an invasion. Acosta: As you know, Mr. President, the caravan was not an invasion. It’s a group of migrants moving up from Central America towards the border with the U.S. And … Trump: Thank you for telling me that. I appreciate it. Acosta: … why did you characterize it as such? Trump: Because I consider it an invasion. You and I have a difference of opinion. Acosta: But do you think that you demonized immigrants in this election to try to keep … Trump: Not at all. No, not at all. I want them to come into the country, but they have to come in legally. You know, they have to come in, Jim, through a process. I want it to be a process. And I want people to come in. And we need the people here … Acosta: Right. But your campaign had an ad showing migrants climbing over walls and so on … Trump: Well, that’s true. … They weren’t actors. Acosta: They’re not going to be doing that. Trump: They weren’t actors. Well, no, it was true. Do you think they were actors? They weren’t actors. They didn’t come from Hollywood. … This was an actual — you know, it happened a few days ago and … Acosta: They’re hundreds of miles away, though. They’re hundreds and hundreds of miles away. Trump: You know what? Acosta: That’s not an invasion. Trump: I think you should — honestly — I think you should let me run the country, you run CNN. And if you did it well, your ratings would be much better. Acosta: But let me ask … if I may ask one other question … Trump: OK, that’s enough. Acosta: Mr. President, if I may … Trump: Peter, go ahead. Acosta: If I may ask one other question. Are you worried … Trump: That’s enough. That’s enough. Acosta: But, Mr. President, I — well … Trump: That’s enough. Acosta: I was going to ask one other … Trump: That’s enough. Acosta: The other folks have had … Trump: That’s enough. Acosta: Pardon me, ma’am. I’m — I’m — Mr. President … Trump: Excuse me, that’s enough. Acosta: Mr. President, I had one other question, if I may ask, on — on the Russia investigation. Are you concerned that — that you may have indictments … Trump: I’m not concerned about anything with the Russia investigation because it’s a hoax. Acosta: Are you … Trump: That’s enough. Put down the mic. Acosta: Mr. President, are you worried about indictments coming down in this investigation? Trump: I tell you what. CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN. Go ahead. Acosta: I — I think that’s unfair … Trump: You’re a very rude person. The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible, and the way you treat other people are horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way.

jki275 8y ago
"Acosta: As you know, Mr. President, the caravan was not an invasion. It’s a group of migrants moving up from Central America towards the border with the U.S. And …" That's where he's rendering a political opinion. It would be quite different if he said something like "Congressman so and so said just yesterday that this is not an invasion and is merely whatever and could you comment" or "There is concern in some circles about your rhetoric in calling this an invasion..., could you address this concern or explain why you believe this is an invasion" or something like those -- but in taking the "as you know" line, he's directly calling the President a liar, taking a political position on the issue himself, and trying to bait the President into arguing with him (which of course the President did as he always does).
- komali2 8y ago
  I disagree that this is a political opinion. I think this is one party (Acosta) challenging the other (the government employee) on objective fact, as per Acosta's job description. >“If someone says it’s raining & another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out of the fking window and find out which is true.” https://www.google.com/search?q=invasion https://www.google.com/search?q=invasion : > an instance of invading a country or region with an armed force. There are other definitions of "invasion" that can be applied, but why choose the word "invasion" when there are more accurate ones to choose that don't have the negative connotations? It is a bad faith use of the word "invasion" by the government to describe anything other than an actual armed invasion. How should they describe Russian troops landing on US soil if they've already used up the word "invasion" to describe impoverished asylum-seekers? >he's directly calling the President a liar. The president is a liar. He lies all the time. I'm glad the auditors are pushing my employee on this. He's lying about what he's using my money for and that infuriates me. https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statements/byruling/false/ https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statem...
  - jki275 8y ago
    Again, you're missing the point. He's taking a political position, not being a journalist. It's not an objective fact as a significant portion of the US disagrees with you and Mr. Acosta. It's a matter of political discussion and has been for a while.

komali2 8y ago

I didn't see judgement rendered, I saw questions asked. Can you share a video and link to a timestamp where you saw political opinion generated by Acosta, so I can better understand your perspective?