U s President Donald Trump got into a tense and charged verbal argument with a journalist last night that led to the reporter’s press credentials being suspended.
The exchange marked a new low for Trump’s relationship with journalists, which has largely been hostile.
Trump was addressing a press conference in Washington, DC, where the US president was to speak on the country’s mid-term elections. Trump’s Republican party managed to keep its majority in the Senate but lost control of the House of Representatives.
The press conference, which initially focused on simple political topics, quickly descended into chaos after Trump was asked about his politics and the controversial issue of Russia meddling in the US’s 2016 presidential election (the same election that put Trump in the White Hosue).
CNN reporter Jim Acosta asked Trump why he had focused on migrants in his campaign leading up to the mid-term elections.
To this, Trump responded, “You should let me run the country. You run CNN and if you did it well, your ratings would be much better.”
Acosta then tried to ask about the status of the investigation into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump, however, tried to cut the journalist short before ultimately responding, “CNN should be ashamed of itself having you work for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN. The way you treat [White House spokesperson] Sarah Sanders is horrible. The way you treat other people is horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way.”