Jimmy Kimmel attempted to set the record straight Thursday night on what the Trump White House has tried to characterized as an assault by CNN reporter Jim Acosta on a White House intern at the president’s post-midterms press conference, prompting them to revoke his access.
“OK, not only did he not accost her, he said, ‘Pardon me, ma’am,’” Kimmel said after playing video of the incident on his show. “That’s where the Hucka-B.S. machine comes in. Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted a doctored video clip that they believe is from Infowars, which is a website for the mentally unbalanced, in which they sped up Jim Acosta’s hand movement to make it look more violent and the part where he says, ‘Pardon me, ma'am,’ they cut the audio out.
“They altered this video,” the host continued, demonstrating for his audience how they “sped up his hand” in the apparently altered video tweeted by Sanders.
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“President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his administration,” Sanders wrote on Twitter. “We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern.”
“Now, Jim Acosta clearly never touched that White House intern,” Kimmel replied. “That’s just a lie. And I think this also might be the first time I’ve seen Sarah Sanders take the woman’s side on any subject ever. So good for her. Baby steps. But she should be forced to resign for that. I mean, she intentionally disseminated doctored video footage to discredit a reputable journalist. She’s the White House press secretary.”
“She should be fired for that,” he reiterated. “Sarah Huckabee Sanders should be fired and sent to live in a Jo-Ann’s fabric store for all the rest of her days.”
