CNN’s Jim Acosta To Donald Trump: “Our Record On Delivering The Truth Is A Lot Better Than Yours”

Ted Johnson

25 February 2020 at 10:06 am·2-min read

Donald Trump got into another tiff with CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta after the president bashed the network during a news conference in India.

After Trump claimed that the network apologized “that they said certain things that weren’t true,” Acosta responded, “Mr. President, I think our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours, sometimes, if you don’t mind me saying.”

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Trump shot back: “Let me tell you about your record. Your record is so bad you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

Acosta had asked Trump whether he could “pledge to the American people that you will not accept any foreign assistance in the upcoming election.”

Trump said, “First of all, I want no help from any country, and I haven’t been given help from any country.”

Acosta also asked Trump about his decision to replace acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire with Ric Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany. Acosta noted that Grenell has no intelligence experience.

Trump defended the move, saying that Maguire was due to depart on March 11, anyway, and that he was looking at five potential permanent successors.

Trump’s reference to a CNN apology actually had to do with an updated story about the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of Russian interference in the 2020 election. CNN reported that the top election security official, in a briefing to lawmakers, may have overstated that Russia is interfering in the election with the goal of ensuring Trump’s re-elction.

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