Aug. 9 Member Bonus: Jim Acosta: CNN Wanted Me to Have Bodyguards at Trump Rally

This members-only episode was originally published on August 9, 2020 and moved to this feed for full member access.

The job of a White House reporter is no easy feat, especially under an administration that constantly refers to the press as “the enemy of the people.” But CNN Chief WH Correspondent Jim Acosta knew early on he would not back back down. “When he started to call us fake news and Sean Spicer was calling us fake news and Mike Pence was calling us fake news at that infamous news conference, I just thought, you know what, that's it I've had enough,” Acosta told Rick Wilson and Molly Jong-Fast on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal. That may explain why CNN assigned FOUR bodyguards to him at a Trump Rally (“You have journalists in this country who were being threatened on a regular basis.”) He also answered some burning questions on the forefront of all our minds, including whether Trump writes some of his own daily briefing questions for right-wing pundits and the real end-game for press secretary Number 3405: Kayleigh McEnany. “I'm old enough to remember when the White House press secretary’s job was to serve the American people, to serve the presidency, not just the person who is the current occupant of the Oval Office,” he says. Plus! The trio discuss who may be leaking to the public these days and the White House’s reaction to Trump’s interview with Axios’ Jonathan Swan: “They were trying to do ‘Clean up on aisle 6.’”

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