In stunning exchange, Trump refuses to answer question from CNN reporter
From the very beginning of Trump's contentious press conference on Wednesday, the president-elect expressed his contempt for news organizations like CNN and Buzzfeed.
PEOTUS' ire appears to have been provoked by a story published by CNN last night, which referenced a memo alleging that Trump may have been compromised by Russia. When CNN reporter Jim Acosta attempted to ask Trump a question today, Trump shut the senior white house correspondent down, accusing him of publishing fake news.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump trusts WikiLeaks more than the CIA or FBI
Acosta made repeated attempts to have the president-elect answer a question, but Trump spoke over the reporter and referred to him as "rude."
While Buzzfeed published the full 35-page document of the allegations, CNN and Acosta did not, as the claims could not be independently verified.
That didn't seem to matter to Trump, and the exchange electrified Twitter, who worried about freedom of the press.
Honestly, the press should band together and defer to @Acosta or @SaraMurray so CNN can get a question in.
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 11, 2017
CNN’s @Acosta is one of the best in the business. Good on him relentlessly pushing Trump to answer his questions.
— Matt Viser (@mviser) January 11, 2017
(Would've helped if Jim Acosta just shouted out the question)
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) January 11, 2017
Following @acosta because Trump shouted him down and that's all the endorsment I need for a journalist.
— Hong Kong Hermit (@HongKongHermit) January 11, 2017
Hats off to @Acosta for calling Donald's egregious behavior in this press conference "inappropriate."
— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) January 11, 2017
After the exchange, Acosta tweeted that his question was asked by another member of the media.
Fortunately ABC's Cecilia Vega asked my question about whether any Trump associates contacted Russians. Trump said no.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 11, 2017
This was Trump's first press conference in about six months.
