Trump repurposes rally crowd photo from CNN’s Acosta

President Trump on Wednesday posted a photo to his Twitter account that CNN’s Jim Acosta took and posted from outside the president’s scheduled campaign rally in Erie, Pa.

“Couldn’t let these great people down. They have been lined up since last night – see you soon Pennsylvania!” Trump tweeted, alongside a photo of supporters lined up outside Erie Insurance Arena.

Couldn’t let these great people down. They have been lined up since last night – see you soon Pennsylvania! pic.twitter.com/jSrsmncw85

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2018

Acosta, a White House correspondent for CNN, quickly noted that the photo appeared to be the same one that he had posted to his Twitter account three hours earlier.

This looks a lot like the pic I tweeted earlier today. (note the lady with the sunglasses in the left side of the photo) pic.twitter.com/uRoR2ekWsz

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) October 10, 2018

{mosads}The president said earlier Wednesday that it was a “quandary” whether to hold his campaign rally at all, given the Category 4 hurricane bearing down on Florida. However, he told reporters he felt it would be unfair to cancel given how many people had been waiting in line for hours to attend.

Wednesday is not the first time the president has recycled images from a White House reporter on his own Twitter account.

Last month, after alleging without evidence that China was interfering in the 2018 U.S. election to hurt Republicans, Trump repurposed photos from Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs of an insert in The Des Moines Register that had been purchased by Chinese media. 

Trump tweets the photos I shot in my car in Iowa on Sunday and tweeted.

My pictures show the four-page advertisement — disguised as a news section — that China paid for in the Des Moines Register criticizing Trump’s trade moves. https://t.co/BzgeLuxps2

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) September 26, 2018 

Trump and the White House have expressed particular disdain for CNN, frequently labeling the outlet “fake news” and claiming it is biased against him. Acosta has clashed on multiple occasions with Trump and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

During a press conference in the United Kingdom earlier this year, Acosta attempted to ask a question, but Trump declared “CNN is fake news, I don’t take questions from CNN.”

The president has, both before and after that press conference, taken questions from Acosta and other CNN reporters.