CNN's Jim Acosta: Trump's FISA tweets raise the question, “Does the president essentially live-tweet his policy positions after watching [Fox & Friends]?”

Acosta: “That obviously should cause concern to people when they're wondering what the president of the United States is up to on any given morning.”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

From the January 11 edition of CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin:

BROOKE BALDWIN (HOST): On [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] FISA, Jim, it just was confusing. The tweet was confusing this morning. How are they -- she's obviously saying we're wrong. It wasn't.

JIM ACOSTA (CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT): They're telling us that two plus two does not equal four. They're telling us that the sky is not blue. That is what happens here at the White House under this administration. It happens sometimes under other administrations. It happens frequently during this administration that we're told two and two does not equal four. 

Obviously, those were contradictory tweets earlier this morning from the president of the United States on the FISA program, tweets, by the way, which were posted at around the same time he was watching Fox & Friends essentially tell him: No, Mr. President don't do this. And so, it raises the question -- and we brought this up during the briefing -- does the president essentially live-tweet his policy positions after watching a television program? That obviously should cause concern to people when they're wondering what the president of the United States is up to on any given morning. It appears this morning he was watching a program and then tweeting policy. That obviously caused a lot of concern up on Capitol Hill. It caused a lot of concern here at the White House because, as we all know, the House [of Representatives] was voting to reauthorize the FISA program, which is obviously very important for countering espionage here in the United States. It's very important for uncovering and detecting potential terrorist attacks or terrorist plots here in the United States. So it's a hugely important program. And it caused a lot of concern up on [Capitol Hill]. We just know that. We know it caused concern up on Capitol Hill because we're talking to our sources. There are people over here at the White House acknowledging that to us privately. And yet we had the White House press secretary Sarah Sanders essentially telling us that two plus two does not equal four and that the sky is not blue. That occasionally happens over here. 

Previously:

Trump’s Fox live-tweets are a problem for the press

How Trump helps Fox & Friends set the media agenda

Executive Time: Hail to the live-tweeter in chief

I never thought Fox & Friends might actually kill me, but here we are