White House press secretary Sarah Sanders responded to the lawsuit filed today by CNN and Jim Acosta over his pulled “hard pass,” calling it “grandstanding” and noting that the network has “nearly 50 additional hard pass holders”:
"Just more grandstanding from CNN, and we will vigorously defend against this lawsuit," @PressSec says. "CNN, who has nearly 50 additional hard pass holders, and Mr. Acosta is no more or less special than any other media outlet or reporter with respect to the 1st Amendment."
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) November 13, 2018
The story from the White House now seems to be that Acosta was monopolizing the floor when he wouldn’t relinquish the microphone, which was undeniably true:
"White House cannot run an orderly and fair press conference when a reporter acts this way, which is neither appropriate nor professional. The 1st Amendment is not served when a single reporter, of more than 150 present, attempts to monopolize the floor." -Sarah Huckabee Sanders
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) November 13, 2018
Full statement here:
White House now saying @Acosta “physically refused to surrender a White House microphone to an intern, so that other reporters might ask their questions.” pic.twitter.com/2SaDfaoR63
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 13, 2018
Of note, Sanders did not mention at all about the physical contact between Acosta and the White House intern:
WH changes its explanation – no more mention of placing hands on an intern https://t.co/Doij1en327
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 13, 2018
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Related:
Now THIS reads like ‘Dear Diary’: Jim Acosta has serious case of the sadz in his ‘declaration’ supporting CNN’s lawsuit https://t.co/X8L1s0NFMx
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 13, 2018
Talk about BUTTHURT! CNN officially sues Trump for kicking Jim Acosta to the curb and OMG LOL https://t.co/FZPYISZ0OS
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 13, 2018