Hannity Offers Advice to CNN’s Jim Acosta: ‘Look Inward, Maybe Find Your Zen’

The CNN reporter was met with jeers and heckling at President Trump’s rally in Tampa on Tuesday

Sean Hannity suggested on Tuesday that CNN’s Jim Acosta deserved to be heckled by attendees at President Trump’s rally in Tampa and said if the reporter wanted a friendly reception, he should “look inward.”

“Instead of doubling down on your anti-Trump rage, maybe look inward. Maybe find your zen. Maybe find your inner-peace. Analyze objectively the overwhelming nonstop hysterical coverage against the president,” said Hannity.

“Americans don’t trust you or fake news CNN. You pretend to be fair and unbiased journalists,” he added while addressing Acosta directly. “You’re not. You’re not reporting facts. You’re giving your opinion, You’re an opinion channel.”

The Fox News host, known for his high ratings and close personal friendship with the president, concluded his rant against CNN with some advice.

“Maybe you’ll have better luck getting an interview if you start being a little fair,” Hannity said. “Maybe, just maybe, you’ll take my advice. I tend to doubt it.”

At President Trump’s rally Tuesday evening, the CNN reporter was again jeered by attendees over the network’s coverage. Video recorded by Acosta showed him being greeted by hostile crowds who booed and shouting obscenities at him.

“Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa,” he said in a tweet. “I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy.”

Hannity’s commentary defending the crowds was the exception. The behavior of rally-goers was broadly condemned not just on CNN, but also by conservative voices like Right Side Broadcasting and Anthony Scaramucci.

“This isn’t our best. It’s not who we are. I don’t always agree and am often upset with journalists but we are flashing warning lights now that we shouldn’t be flashing,” said the former communications director in a tweet. “The free press needs to be protected as well as their opinions. That’s why that Amendment was First.”

Comments