Calls grow for Jim Acosta's White House access to be reinstated - as row grows over 'doctored' footage of tussle at Trump press conference

A White House intern reaches for and tries to take away the microphone held by CNN correspondent Jim Acosta
REUTERS
Jacob Jarvis9 November 2018

CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta has received significant backing to have his White House access reinstated following a row with President Donald Trump.

In a heated Q&A session following the US midterm elections, an intern tried to take the microphone from Mr Acosta as he attempted to ask a question.

The President's press secretary described Mr Acosta as "placing his hands" on the young woman during the altercation.

Donald Trump tells CNN reporter they are a "rude, terrible person"

Mr Acosta's employer has stood by him and the Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, has called on the White House to restore his credentials.

"Journalists should be able to do their job without fear that a tough series of questions will provoke retaliation," said CPJ's advocacy director Courtney Radsch.

"The White House should immediately reinstate Jim Acosta's press pass, and refrain from punishing reporters by revoking their access - that's not how a free press works.

"In the current climate, we hope President Trump will stop insulting and denigrating reporters and media outlets, it's making journalists feel unsafe."

Jim Acosta was called a "terrible person" by Donald Trump
AP

On Wednesday, President Trump called Mr Acosta a "terrible person" and "rude".

The furore has continued now as the altercation between the reporter and intern takes centre stage.

Sarah Sanders, the press secretary, shared a video of the incident which some people have claimed was doctored.

Alongside this, she wrote: "We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video."

It has since been speculated that they took the footage from the website 'Infowars' and not the original.

Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars then responded that it was a "brazen lie" to claim he edited the video to make it quicker.

On Twitter, he wrote: "The claim being made my some media outlets that I 'sped up' the Acosta video is a brazen lie.

"Here's the original editing in Sony Vegas Pro. As you can see, no tracks are 'sped up' (sped up tracks would show wavy lines). I just zoomed in."

CNN accused Sarah Sanders of lying and also said that the decision to ban Mr Acosta was a "threat to our democracy".

A statement said: "Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lied. She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened."

Sarah Sanders, however, said that the press conference showed the President's "support for a free press" and stated he answered 68 questions from 35 different reporters.

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