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I'm not a Trump supporter and don't know a lot about the protocol here, but I've watched the video. Acosta and the President go back and forth several times wit

I'm not a Trump supporter and don't know a lot about the protocol here, but I've watched the video. Acosta and the President go back and forth several times with the journalist trying to ask (another?) question and Trump saying that's enough. Presumably it's not the journalist's microphone. Is it really wrong or surprising in itself that an uncooperative participant in a shared conversation would have the community microphone taken away? I'd be glad to hear why taking the microphone in this context is truly unusual. The ban is pretty BS, although I find the journalist's "karate chop" in the undoctored video a tad more aggressive than supporters ever describe it. To his credit he does also say "pardon me."

drewbuschhorn 8y ago
I'm a liberal partisan, so fwiw, but I don't think in a professional setting you ever try to wrestle something out of someone's hands. This is all uncharted territory in the White House press room, but when I've seen a similar situation in science conferences, they usually stand in front of the person who won't yield the mic and ask for it back until the mic gets cuts. But the WH had to double down and say that JA "placing hands on" on the intern, which is close to a specific legal phrase related to assault and battery charges, unless they were saying he was: trying to find the intern, confirm her into his church, or provide faith healing services.
- scintill76 8y ago
  Good points. I was also surprised the mic didn't just get cut. I'm wondering if someone told the intern to grab the mic, since I agree it's unprofessional. Maybe reaching out the hand was supposed to be more of a prompt to hand it back, but things got heated. What a mess.
rdiddly 8y ago
I agree Acosta hogs the mic a bit. And his questions are inarticulate and badgering. The two men interrupt each other. There's no decorum. Both sides are basically ridiculous and embarrassing, which is unfortunately par for the course these days. But if you're at the podium there are ways of handling this. You can simply stop answering questions until the guy realizes it's futile and yields the mic. If that takes a bit of time, then while it's happening you can articulately explain that everybody deserves a chance to speak, thereby demonstrating your sense of fairness and equity, and winning points with everyone. But Trump doesn't believe that (if he even thinks about it at all... I mean heck he's only the president, not someone who should be concerned with principles of governance, right?), and doesn't have the wherewithal. It's like apes jibber-jabbering.

drewbuschhorn 8y ago

I'm a liberal partisan, so fwiw, but I don't think in a professional setting you ever try to wrestle something out of someone's hands. This is all uncharted territory in the White House press room, but when I've seen a similar situation in science conferences, they usually stand in front of the person who won't yield the mic and ask for it back until the mic gets cuts. But the WH had to double down and say that JA "placing hands on" on the intern, which is close to a specific legal phrase related to assault and battery charges, unless they were saying he was: trying to find the intern, confirm her into his church, or provide faith healing services.

scintill76 8y ago
Good points. I was also surprised the mic didn't just get cut. I'm wondering if someone told the intern to grab the mic, since I agree it's unprofessional. Maybe reaching out the hand was supposed to be more of a prompt to hand it back, but things got heated. What a mess.

rdiddly 8y ago

I agree Acosta hogs the mic a bit. And his questions are inarticulate and badgering. The two men interrupt each other. There's no decorum. Both sides are basically ridiculous and embarrassing, which is unfortunately par for the course these days. But if you're at the podium there are ways of handling this. You can simply stop answering questions until the guy realizes it's futile and yields the mic. If that takes a bit of time, then while it's happening you can articulately explain that everybody deserves a chance to speak, thereby demonstrating your sense of fairness and equity, and winning points with everyone. But Trump doesn't believe that (if he even thinks about it at all... I mean heck he's only the president, not someone who should be concerned with principles of governance, right?), and doesn't have the wherewithal. It's like apes jibber-jabbering.