Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta has called for reporters and news outlets to band together against the Trump administration’s treatment of journalists, after it blacklisted an Associated Press reporter from White House briefings earlier this week for refusing to call the “Gulf of Mexico” by its new Trump-appointed name.
“It is crucial for news outlets to unite in opposition to any attempts by the administration to harm individual journalists and their organizations,” Acosta wrote on his Substack, The Jim Acosta Show, Sunday.
“News organizations in Washington should be banding together to send the message that members of the press will determine how they cover the news,” Acosta continued. “Not the White House. Not the man behind the Resolute Desk, no matter how he redraws the world’s maps. The presidential Sharpie is not mightier than the pen.”
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The former White House correspondent proceeded to outline how reporters could send a message to the Trump administration, writing that the AP should consider challenging the White House in court—and if that doesn’t work, news organizations could even boycott the administration’s briefings.
In turn, “news outlets then must rally to the cause” by publicizing their support for AP and “if necessary, refusing to cover presidential movements in solidarity until Trump backs down.”
“Trump may respond by inviting only sycophants and right-wing hacks to chronicle his daily decrees,” Acosta continued. “Fine. Let the American people soak that in — the image of an aspiring autocrat and his servile propagandists.”
The White House barred AP journalists from covering President Donald Trump’s movements from the Oval Office and Air Force One earlier this week. The decision was a retaliatory response to the AP sticking with the four-century-old name “Gulf of Mexico” instead of Trump’s newly-decreed “Gulf of America.”
The move has spurred an intense reaction online, with a handful of journalists calling for a complete boycott of White House briefings. Acosta has retweeted some calls to boycott on his X page as well.
The seasoned reporter is perhaps best known for his public sparring with Trump during the president’s first administration.
Acosta’s White House press pass was even briefly revoked after he and Trump repeatedly exchanged heated back-and-forths. In one 2018 exchange Trump told Acosta that “CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them” and that he was “rude, terrible person.”
When rumors of Acosta’s departure from the network circulated in January, Trump celebrated the prospect on Truth Social and described Acosta as “one of the worst and most dishonest reporters in journalistic history” and a “major sleazebag” who will “fail no matter where he ends up.”
The news anchor proceeded to announce his exit from CNN shortly after.
