Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday said that several reporters have told him that they are “disgusted” with CNN’s Jim Acosta’s behavior at White House press briefings.
Spicer, who has personally dealt with Acosta’s hostility in the press briefing room, said that there is “clearly a group of journalists that are disgusted and find Mr. Acosta’s behavior out of line,” but there is a “groupthink” among the press that has kept them from voicing their opinions.
He said that Acosta’s behavior at a press briefing with President Trump that resulted in Acosta’s press pass being revoked “was rude and unbecoming to his fellow journalists.”
As to CNN’s lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated after the White House revoking his press credentials, Spicer said that CNN has “five or six other reporters” who still have hard passes so the allegations are baseless.
He also said that Acosta questioning the president wasn’t the issue:
“Any member of the media should be able to ask any member of the government anything that they want. I don’t think that was the issue,” said Spicer. “Frankly he was rude to other reporters in the room who all deserve to have a question asked,” referring to how Acosta refused to hand over the microphone.
He said that the real “problem” is Acosta’s behavior.
“This was about Mr. Acosta’s behavior and lack of respect for the office of the president,” Spicer went on.
"It's not a right to be able to go over to the White House, it's a privilege," he said. "It's Mr. Acosta's behavior that is the problem."
Spicer did say that he hopes CNN, Acosta, and the White House "can come to a middle ground” and have all credentialed reporters “agree to minimum standards of decorum and professionalism."
The White House on Tuesday called CNN and Acosta’s lawsuit “just more grandstanding from CNN.”
MRC’s Brent Bozell in a statement said that the lawsuit “is ridiculous” and that “no one reporter has a constitutional right to access the press briefing room.”