At the end of his trip to India, President Donald Trump and CNN reporter Jim Acosta traded barbs over their record on truth-telling.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Acosta asked Trump if he would âpledgeâ that he would not accept assistance from foreign countries in the presidential election.
âOkay, first of all, I want no help from any country. And I havenât been given help from any country,â Trump said, adding, âAnd if you see what CNN â youâre wonderful network âI guess they apologized in a way for â didnât they apologize for the fact that they said certain things that werenât true? Tell me, what was their apology yesterday? What did they say?â
âMr. President, I think our record on delivering the truth is a lot better than yours sometimes if you donât mind me saying,â Acosta responded.
âLet me tell you about your record, your record is so bad you ought to be ashamed of yourself,â Trump shot back. âYou probably have the worst record in the history of broadcasting.â
For his part, Acosta said he was ânot ashamed of anything.â
Watch the exchange below:
The exchange comes after reports claimed that the acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Joseph Maguire was pushed out of his job for allowing an intelligence briefing that said Russian operatives were working to get Trump re-elected to be delivered to lawmakers.
However, National Security Advisor Robert OâBrien denied that Maguire was pushed out. Instead, OâBrien noted that Maguire, as the acting DNI, faced until March 11 to serve in the job due to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
During his press conference in Inda, Trump also denied that Maguire was pushed out of the job for being disloyal.
âJoe Maguire is a very excellent guy. Heâs a very good man. And his time was March 11. I believe it was March 11, where he would have to leave.â
Trump added that he was looking at five potential nominees to replace Maguire.
