At the end of his trip to India, President Donald Trump and CNN reporter Jim Acosta traded barbs over their record on truth-telling.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Acosta asked Trump if he would “pledge” that he would not accept assistance from foreign countries in the presidential election.
“Okay, first of all, I want no help from any country. And I haven’t been given help from any country,” Trump said, adding, “And if you see what CNN — you’re wonderful network —I guess they apologized in a way for — didn’t they apologize for the fact that they said certain things that weren’t true? Tell me, what was their apology yesterday? What did they say?”
“Mr. President, I think our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours sometimes if you don’t mind me saying,” Acosta responded.
“Let me tell you about your record, your record is so bad you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Trump shot back. “You probably have the worst record in the history of broadcasting.”
For his part, Acosta said he was “not ashamed of anything.”
Watch the exchange below:
President Trump: "If you see what CNN, your wonderful network, said I guess they apologized in a way…What was their apology yesterday? What did they say?"
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 25, 2020
Jim @Acosta: "Mr. President, I think our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours sometimes." pic.twitter.com/KPKcinxdtM
The exchange comes after reports claimed that the acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Joseph Maguire was pushed out of his job for allowing an intelligence briefing that said Russian operatives were working to get Trump re-elected to be delivered to lawmakers.
However, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien denied that Maguire was pushed out. Instead, O’Brien noted that Maguire, as the acting DNI, faced until March 11 to serve in the job due to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
During his press conference in Inda, Trump also denied that Maguire was pushed out of the job for being disloyal.
“Joe Maguire is a very excellent guy. He’s a very good man. And his time was March 11. I believe it was March 11, where he would have to leave.”
Trump added that he was looking at five potential nominees to replace Maguire.