A federal judge has ordered the White House to give Jim Acosta his press credentials back, much like a mother telling her child to stop hogging the controller just because his friend said something “mean.”
Federal judge Timothy J. Kelly sided with CNN on Friday, ordering the White House to reinstate chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass.
The ruling was an initial victory for CNN in its lawsuit against President Trump and several top aides.
The lawsuit alleges that CNN and Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights are being violated by the suspension of Acosta’s press pass.
Kelly did not rule on the underlying case on Friday. But he granted CNN’s request for a temporary restraining order.
After the latest of a series of meltdowns President Donald Trump has been having since, well, probably birth, but definitely since he’s been in office, he got into an argument with Acosta at a press conference.
Afterward, the White House revoked Acosta’s press credentials, citing a situation in which an intern tried to grab the mic from Acosta. On Twitter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders shared doctored footage to back up the White House’s reasoning.
When pressed about the validity of the footage, Sanders said, “If it’s a lie, we fight on that lie.” OK, she definitely didn’t say that, but she might as well have.
Even Fox News was like, “Nah, bruh, chill.” But we know conservatives love a good opportunity to sporadically moralize around bipartisanship, so. While the rest of the case is still being considered, Acosta at least temporarily has his press credentials back.
I don’t know—it’s nice to see that Trump hasn’t frozen journalism into an iron-fisted double-speak think tank yet, but I’m still a little bit unsettled about the situation as a whole. He’s getting bold. Absurdity of the situation aside, you can’t get to the truth if you have to walk on eggshells. And Trump has been doing everything he can to obscure the truth. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a serious pushback and the continuation of a serious meditation on the role of journalism in his presidency.