in a very funny moment on CNN on Tuesday, January 28, now-former CNN personality Jim Acosta announced on that day’s edition of his ended show, CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta, that he was leaving the network rather than moving to the midnight slot on CNN. He also melted down about President Donald Trump, his old nemesis.
President Trump, gloating on Truth Social after Acosta’s rumored leaving was reported on, said, “Wow, really good news! Jim Acosta, one of the worst and most dishonest reporters in journalistic history, a major sleazebag, has been relegated by CNN Fake News to the Midnight hour, “Death Valley,” because of extraordinarily BAD RATINGS (and no talent!). Word is that he wants to QUIT, and that would be even better. Jim is a major loser who will fail no matter where he ends up. Good luck Jim!”
Speaking during the end of the show, he announced that he would be leaving rather than taking a different time slot, saying, “I just wanted to end today’s show by thanking all of the wonderful people who work behind the scenes at this network. You may have seen some reports about me and the show, and after giving all of this some careful consideration and weighing in alternative timeslots CNN offered me, I’ve decided to move on. I am grateful to CNN for the nearly 18 years I’ve spent here doing the news.”
Continuing, he commented on the highlight of his career, saying, “People often ask me if the highlight of my career at CNN was at the White House covering Donald Trump. Actually, no. That moment came here when I covered former President Barack Obama’s trip to Cuba in 2016 and had the chance to question the dictator there, Raul Castro, about the island’s political prisoners.”
He used that Cuba visit to comment on his wild attacks on President Trump, saying, “As the son of a Cuban refugee, I took home this lesson: It is never a good time to bow down to a tyrant. I have always believed it’s the job of the press to hold power to account. I’ve always tried to do that here at CNN, and I plan on doing all of that in the future.”
Tying that yet further to Trump, Acosta indicated that he is a terrifying dictator, a laughable assertion, saying, “One final message. Don’t give in to the lies. Don’t give in to the fear. Hold on to the truth and to hope. Even if you have to get out your phone, record that message. I will not give in to the lies. ‘I will not give in to the fear!’”
He then said, concluding, “Post it on your social media so people can hear from you, too. I’ll have more to say about my plans in the coming days. But until then, I want to thank all of you for tuning in. It has been an honor to be welcomed into your home for all these years. That’s the news. Reporting from Washington. I’m Jim Acosta.” Watch him here:
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The reaction on X (formerly Twitter) was swift and furious. Most representative of the sweeping criticism was Brendan Dilly, noted Trump supporter and meme maker, who wrote, posting a clip of Acosta’s freak out, “Legendary loser Jim Acosta just quit his job at CNN live on the air. See ya later, f*ck face!”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video