During last week’s post-election White House press conference, CNN’s Jim Acosta demonstrated his ignorance of the basic tenets of reporting. Rather than seeking the facts, he sought the spotlight by attempting to school President Trump about the Central American migrant caravan.
Acosta opened up his exchange by asserting he “wanted to challenge” the president about his use of the term “invasion” to describe thousands of migrants coming toward the U.S. border.
Instead of striving to understand the president’s viewpoint, he merely pushed his own.
“As you know, Mr. President, the caravan was not an invasion. It’s a group of migrants moving up from Central America towards the border with the U.S.,” proclaimed Acosta.
Acosta will need to add the residents and government officials in Tijuana, Mexico to his lecture circuit.
On Friday, Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum termed the influx of migrants an “avalanche,” while Luis Alexis Mendoza, a carpenter in the Mexican town, screamed that “this is an invasion,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Other residents also voiced their objection to more than 3,000 migrants descending upon their town.
“[Tijuana residents] accused the migrants of being messy, ungrateful and a danger to Tijuana. They also complained about how the caravan forced its way into Mexico, calling it an ‘invasion.’ And they voiced worries that their taxes might be spent to care for the group,” reported the Associated Press on Sunday.
CNN’s chief correspondent also disputed the notion that migrants would attempt to enter the U.S. by scaling the border fence in California or Texas.
He accused the president of demonizing migrants by airing an ad showing “migrants climbing over walls” on the border and then declared, “They’re not going to be doing that.”
Actually, they already had tried to climb over a wall along the border near San Diego. News outlets captured video of migrants scaling part of the border fence near Border Field State Park – one day before Acosta insisted they would not.
If Acosta wants to be recognized (and respected) as a reporter, he should make it a priority to report the facts, not report the facts as he sees them.