WATCH: Jim Acosta Has Meltdown and Demands Journalists ‘Walk the F-ck Out’ on President Trump at White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Former CNN pundit-turned-YouTuber Jim Acosta went on a profane tirade and called on reporters to stage a mass walkout during President Donald Trump’s appearance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night.
Acosta made the unhinged demand during an episode of his podcast, The Jim Acosta Show, while speaking with Katie Couric.
If Trump begins criticizing or “trashing” members of the press corps, as he has every right to do after years of relentless fake news and hoaxes, not to mention that the dinner is traditionally something of a roast, Acosta declared the proper response is a mass walkout.
“I think if Trump starts doing that, the reporters in the room should walk the f-ck out! They should get up and leave!” Acosta raged.
“Will they, though? They won’t,” Couric replied.
The disgraced has-been framed the tantrum as some noble stand for the First Amendment, insisting journalists must “stand up for something and stand up for our profession.”
Acosta warned that simply sitting there while Trump speaks would make the media look complicit, adding that Trump is intentionally putting them in a no-win situation to expose their bias.
Acosta complained about reports that Trump plans to leave early, before saying, “And if folks are sitting there laughing at Trump trashing this anchor or this correspondent or this news organization, it’s just going to look terrible. I think he’s done this intentionally to put the media in a position where they can sort of be a part of his media strategy, which is to attack the press.”
Couric agreed.
WATCH:
The meltdown comes as President Trump prepares to attend the annual black-tie gala for the first time during his current term, breaking his long-standing boycott of the self-congratulatory “Nerd Prom” event, which has long been criticized as an elitist insider party where the press corps rubs elbows with the very power it claims to scrutinize.
Some WHCA members are planning a symbolic silent protest, wearing First Amendment-themed pocket squares and lapel pins featuring the text of the Constitution’s free press protections.
But Acosta and others want far more drama.
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, a coalition of more than 250 journalists and press freedom groups sent an open letter to the White House Correspondents’ Association earlier this week, urging the organization to use Trump’s presence as an opportunity to deliver a public protest from the podium.
The letter, titled a “Message to WHCA,” accuses the president of “systematic, sustained, and unprecedented attacks on the free press.”
Signatories include aging media personalities such as CBS anchor Dan Rather, former ABC White House correspondent Sam Donaldson, and former NBC anchor Ann Curry, as well as groups such as the Society of Professional Journalists.
The letter demands the WHCA issue a “forceful defense of freedom of the press and condemnation of those who threaten that freedom,” followed by a standing toast to the First Amendment.
Not content with protests or letters, some in the media are simply refusing to attend.
HuffPost announced it is boycotting the dinner entirely.
Editor-in-Chief Whitney Snyder wrote in a statement, “For 17 years, HuffPost has attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner… This year, we cannot stomach it. We’re skipping.”
Snyder called Trump’s presidency “an affront to a free press” and said the outlet refuses to “celebrate journalism and share laughs with a ruler who holds such a dreadful record.”
Late-night host Stephen Colbert also confirmed he will not attend.
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