CNN's Jim Acosta was heckled, called a 'traitor' by Trump supporters at Tampa rally

A woman yells at CNN's Jim Acosta before a Trump rally in Tampa.
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

CNN's Jim Acosta traveled down to Tampa to cover President Trump's rally on Tuesday, and he was greeted by chants of "CNN sucks!" coming from a sea of middle fingers.

Acosta shared a brief snippet of his welcome on Twitter, featuring a man wearing a shirt that read "F—k the media," a chorus of boos, and lots of glares. One man yelled "stop lying!" and another called Acosta a "traitor." As she walked by, one woman grinned and shouted, "You suck!" and used both middle fingers to flip Acosta off, while another booed and gave him two thumbs down.

Acosta attached a message to the video, writing: "Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I'm very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in the conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Trump's middle son, Eric, tweeted a different video of Acosta at the rally where he's getting yelled at and accused of spreading fake news; Eric Trump commented, "#truth." His father retweeted him, while Acosta admonished him. "No Eric," he replied. "Not the truth. And you know better." Catherine Garcia

See more

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.