CNN’s chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, is in McAllen, Texas today ahead of President Trump’s visit to the country’s southern border.
Acosta posted a video to Twitter that he thought was a clever takedown of the ostensible need for a border wall, but ended up accidentally doing the opposite.
While walking along a steel wall separating the United States from Mexico, Acosta said he did not see any pressing emergency that would necessitate Trump’s proposed border wall.
“And here are some of the steel slats that the president’s been talking about, right here,” Acosta said in the video selfie. “As you can see, yes you can see through these slats to the other side of the U.S.-Mexico border, but as we’re walking along here we’re not seeing any kind of imminent danger, there are no migrants trying to rush toward this fence here in the McAllen, Texas area. As a matter of fact there are some other businesses behind me along this highway; there’s a gas station, Burger King and so. But no sign of the national emergency that the president has been talking about. As a matter of fact it’s pretty tranquil down here.”
What Acosta seemed to neglect was that the border wall he was walking along might actually be helping prevent that emergency.
In short, Acosta accidentally helped make Trump’s point.
The attempted take down elicited immediate mockery online.
Acosta followed up with another video making the same point:
And more mockery followed: