John Legend Calls President Trump An ‘Embarrassment’ Following Jim Acosta Row At The White House
John Legend criticized Donald Trump on Twitter, claiming “The president is a f***ing embarrassment,” following a tense exchange at the White House between Trump and CNN’s Jim Acosta.
Even though he didn’t further explain his statement, the singer hit out at the U.S. president shortly after a controversial row between Trump and the CNN chief White House correspondent during a press conference. Acosta asked Donald Trump about the so-called migrant caravan, which the president calls an “invasion” and is still “hundreds of miles away” from the American border. He also challenged Trump over his anti-immigration advert that was deemed as racist and banned from several TV stations, including Fox News.
Trump then repeatedly tells him “That’s enough!” and “Put down the mic” while a White House intern attempts to try and take the microphone out of Acosta’s hand, according to the Daily Mail. The CNN journalist holds on to the mic and tries to ask about Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, to which the president replies “It’s a hoax.” Trump then takes the heated exchange to another level, calling Acosta a “rude, terrible person.”
“CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You’re a very rude person, the way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible,” Trump told the veteran journalist.
You can see Jim Acosta did not “grab” this woman. He refused to let her take the mic, & was so polite as to say “excuse me ma’am,” when he pulled away from her attempted mic grab. The White House is pushing doctored footage from InfoWars to blatantly lie & slander Acosta. Insane. https://t.co/9MVgV8MFxb
— Sophia Bush Hughes (@SophiaBush) November 8, 2018
It was later reported that Acosta had his White House credentials revoked hours after the heated exchange, a move that Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders accredited to the fact that he had put “his hands on a young woman,” in reference to the female member of staff.
“The fact that CNN is proud of the way their employee behaved is not only disgusting, it’s an example of their outrageous disregard for everyone, including young women, who work in this Administration,” Sanders said in a Twitter statement.
“As a result of today’s incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice,” she added.
Acosta denied laying his hands on the female employee, claiming he was just “trying to hang on to the microphone” as he confronted the president.
I’ve just been denied entrance to the WH. Secret Service just informed me I cannot enter the WH grounds for my 8pm hit
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 8, 2018
This is a lie. https://t.co/FastFfWych
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 8, 2018
“We all try to be professionals over there, and I think I handled myself professionally. This is a test for all of us. I do think they are trying to shut us down to some extent inside the White House press corps,” he said.
“I think they are trying to send a message to our colleagues.”
According to the BBC, the White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents the press corps reporting from there, urged the president to reverse the decision, which they deemed “weak” and “misguided.”
“Such interactions [between reporter and president] however uncomfortable they may appear to be, help define the strength of our national institutions,” the association said.
CNN also posted an official statement on Twitter, claiming President Trump’s “ongoing attacks on the press have gone too far.”
