When Jim Acosta, CNN’s senior White House correspondent, tried to ask Donald Trump a question at his press conference last week, it didn’t end well.

Trump started the event by criticizing CNN for alleging that he has close ties to Russia and that U.S. intelligence agencies had briefed him about the possibility that Russia may have compromising information about him. Acosta then thought it would be fair if he, as a representative from the news outlet that Trump criticized, could ask a follow-up question. But Trump refused to answer, called CNN “fake news” and said, “your organization is terrible.” Acosta kept trying to ask a question but to no avail.

After the press conference, Acosta said that soon-to-be White House press secretary Sean Spicer approached him and warned that he would ban him from future press conferences if he repeated his “behavior.” Since then, Trump’s transition team has repeatedly demanded that Acosta and CNN apologize. On Sunday, Spicer said on Fox News, “The idea that he took no responsibility for his behavior was highly unacceptable and inappropriate, and he does owe us and his fellow members of the press corps an apology for his behavior.” After the press conference, Spicer and Acosta exchanged tweets.

Regardless of party, @acosta behavior was rude, inappropriate and disrespectful. He owes @realDonaldTrump and his colleagues an apology https://t.co/LnTkYam8IJ

— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 12, 2017

I have covered 4 presidential campaigns. Democrats and Republicans. This has never happened. Let’s deescalate, find a way to work together. https://t.co/wgNsXlwt4z

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) January 12, 2017

Despite criticism from Trump’s team, Acosta has not apologized and CNN stands behind him–claiming that he was only doing his job. “Being persistent and asking tough questions is his job, and he has our complete support,” the network said in a statement on Monday. The statement went on to say:

As we have learned many times, just because Sean Spicer says something doesn’t make it true. Jim Acosta is a veteran reporter with the utmost integrity and extensive experience in covering both the White House and the President-elect.

Spicer and many in conservative media agree that Acosta was behaving inappropriately and want to keep him from entering future White House events. CNN and Acosta clearly disagree. Current White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said at the White House briefing the day after the conference that he had never felt the need or urge to toss a reporter out. “I can never recall a scenario in which I was tempted to throw somebody out of the room,” he said.

Earnest then seemed to imply that Spicer and the Trump team created the loaded atmosphere at the conference by starting it off by condemning Buzzfeed. He said, “there’s some pretty tough, even outrageous claims that were made. And so it’s not hard to see how that kind of environment is shaped by the people who organize the event.”

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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