CNN fires back at Trump over Acosta attacks, calls treatment of press ‘disturbingly un-American’

CNN chastised President Trump Wednesday after he repeatedly clashed with reporters during a press conference at the White House.

“This president’s ongoing attacks on the press have gone too far. They are not only dangerous, they are disturbingly un-American,” the network said in a statement.

“While President Trump has made it clear he does not respect a free press, he has a sworn obligation to protect it. A free press is vital to democracy, and we stand behind Jim Acosta and his fellow journalists everywhere,” the network added.

CNN’s response to @realDonaldTrump’s press conference today: pic.twitter.com/tJ3nZDnYwO

— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 7, 2018

{mosads}During a roughly 90 minute press conference in the East Room, Trump belittled CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta, accused a black PBS Newshour reporter of asking a “racist question” and told National Urban Radio Network White House correspondent April Ryan to “sit down” when she attempted to ask a question before being called on.

Acosta has regularly been at the center of contentious exchanges with Trump and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The president has long had a fraught relationship with the media, regularly deriding negative coverage as “fake news” and decrying certain outlets as the “enemy of the people.” Raucous crowds at his rallies often chant “CNN sucks.”

Trump has rejected calls to temper his rhetoric after Cesar Sayoc Jr. allegedly mailed a bomb to CNN’s New York City offices, and another similar package to the network was intercepted in Atlanta.

He has instead largely blamed the media for tensions in the country.