Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller went after CNN’s Jim Acosta during Wednesday’s press briefing, calling the reporter “insulting, ignorant and foolish.”
Miller took to the podium to discuss President Trump’s plan to revamp legal immigration when the CNN senior White House correspondent was called on for a question about the new policy that favors English-speaking immigrants.
Acosta said that Trump’s plan “does not sound like it’s keeping with American tradition” on immigration before reading a passage from the Statue of Liberty, noting that it “doesn’t say anything about speaking English.”
Acosta asked, “Can’t people learn to speak English when they get here?”
Miller clearly didn’t appreciate the question. He said that the rhetoric Acosta quoted was added later and wasn’t even on the original Statue of Liberty. The CNN correspondent quickly interrupted, which only infuriated Miller further.
“Jim, I appreciate your speech so, let’s talk about this,” Miller said before mocking the CNN reporter with a series of sarcastic, rhetorical questions.
Miller asked, “The notion that you actually think immigration isn’t a historic law… do you really, at CNN, not know the difference between Green Card policy and illegal immigration? You really don’t know that?”
Acosta criticized the notion that immigrants need to learn English before coming to America, asking if only people from England and Australia will be allowed into the country.
Again, Miller wasn’t amused.
“I am shocked at your statement that you think that only people from Great Britain and Australia would know English,” Miller said. “It reveals your cosmopolitan bias to a shocking degree… in your mind, this is an amazing moment. This is an amazing moment that you think only people from Great Britain or Australia would speak English is so insulting to millions of hard working immigrants that do speak English from all over the world.”
Miller continued: “Have you honestly never met an immigrant from another country who speaks English outside of Great Britain and Australia? Is that your personal experience?”
Miller then called Acosta’s comment “one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant and foolish” things he’s ever said.
Check out the video above.