CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta responded to critics who say that he uses his confrontations with the Trump White House to become the story himself.
In an interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Acosta defended his actions, saying that he was allowed to be an American just like anyone else.
“We’re not supposed to be the story. That’s not why I’m out there,” he said while sporting a pair of American flag socks. “I get accused of that from time to time and my attitude is ‘Listen, I’m allowed to care about this country just as much as anyone else.’”
Colbert then replayed a viral moment from several weeks ago when the Acosta was jeered by Trump supporters at a rally.
“I talk to these folks — I stepped down from the risers that we stand on and I talked to a lot of these folks,” Acosta said. “A lot of these folks are well-intentioned. They care about this country. I totally understand them. They really like this president.”
While President Trump has accused the national media of being “fake” and “enemies of the people,” his White House has specifically singled out Acosta and CNN. Acosta regularly spars with White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and he has been publicly rebuked by Trump as “fake news” at home and abroad.
Acosta told Colbert that many Trump supporters that he has met were good people, but are fundamentally misinformed about what he and his colleagues do and they were relying too much on the conservative media, which was providing a distorted view.