President Donald Trump sat down with Fox News’ Chris Wallace to discuss the Friday ruling on the lawsuit brought against him by CNN and Jim Acosta. Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to “immediately restore” Acosta’s so-called “hard pass,” which grants him access to the White House for reporting. Acosta had his pass revoked after a heated press conference that involved a White House staff member having to physically take a microphone out of his hand when he refused to stop asking questions.
Judge Kelly’s ruling was based on the idea that the White House failed to provide Acosta with adequate due process when they took away his hard pass.
President Trump’s take on this development?
“It’s fine. It’s not a big deal,” the president said.
Trump said that as a result of this, the White House is now working on “rules of decorum” for press conferences. The reasoning seems to be that this way, reporters will be aware of what constitutes a violation before the White House takes any action against them.
“We’re gonna write ’em up right now. It’s not a big deal,” Trump said. “And if he misbehaves, we’ll throw him out.”
Additionally, Trump recognized that instead of kicking people out, he himself can just walk away.
“I will says this. Nobody believes in the First Amendment more than I do,” Trump said. “And if I think somebody’s acting out of sorts, I will leave. I’ll say, ‘Thank you very much, everybody, I appreciate you coming,’ and I’ll leave. And those reporters will not be too friendly to whoever it is that’s acting up.”
[Image via Fox News screengrab]