DC Trawler

Jim Acosta: Mommy Says I’m Special

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

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I’m only paraphrasing slightly.

If you’re reading this blog, on this site, I assume you’ve already formed an opinion about Jim Acosta’s recent behavior. I find the grandstanding doofus to be perfectly ridiculous. Well, almost perfect. The final piece of that puzzle just fell into place.

Paul Fahri, WaPo:

Reporters are supposed to push their sources for answers. But how far can they push before “aggressive reporting” starts to look like badgering, grandstanding or just plain rude?…

Reporters Jim Acosta of CNN and Glenn Thrush of the New York Times took on Stephen Miller, the White House senior policy adviser, in exchanges that were memorable for the heat, if not the light, they generated…

“I was pressing the guy for a statistical justification for a policy that will affect millions of Americans, and he decided to deliver a speech,” says Thrush, via email…

Acosta was similarly unmoved: “As my mother told me recently, ‘Let other people be the wallflower,'” he said in a brief interview. “If quoting from the Statue of Liberty is pushing too hard, I’m going to keep pushing.”

This guy is Ted Baxter, Ron Burgundy, and Pajama Boy all rolled into one. “What, you don’t like the Statue of Liberty? Well, guess what my mom says about that??”

Some journalists say you shouldn’t make yourself the story. Jim Acosta says: “Lookit me, Ma! I’m doin’ just like ya said!”

It’s weird to see Acosta and the rest of the press corps getting tough with the people in power. It’s amazing how energized you feel after an eight-year nap.