Conservative reporter confronts CNN’s Jim Acosta at CPAC

Former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta got entangled in a confrontation with a reporter for The Federalist at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday over his network’s coverage of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).

Acosta was in the middle of an interview at CPAC when David Marcus, the New York correspondent for the Federalist, interrupted, asking repeatedly why CNN wasn’t reporting on the sexual abuse allegations Cuomo faces or his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Hey, Jim. I’m David Marcus from The Federalist. When are you guys going to start covering Cuomo?” Marcus said in the video, which The Federalist later posted to Twitter.

“We do,” Acosta said before asking if he could finish what he was doing before engaging with Marcus. 

Marcus continued to interrupt Acosta to ask about Cuomo in the video posted on Twitter.

Jim Acosta refuses to answer @BlueBoxDave‘s questions about CNN’s lack of coverage of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home scandal and the allegations of sexual assault against him. pic.twitter.com/u6O9pFtkfB

— The Federalist (@FDRLST) February 26, 2021

CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Acosta covered the White House throughout former President Trump’s administration and became a nationally known figure for his contentious battles with him.

The years covering Trump made Acosta a target of the former president’s supporters at rallies and other events, something that also took place at CPAC, where a crowd followed Acosta and chanted, “CNN sucks,” according to The Independent.

CPAC is a home base of sorts for Trump this week. The former president will speak at the event on Sunday.

Marcus defended confronting Acosta while he was conducting an interview, telling The Hill that he should have expected it at CPAC.

“The dude walked into the lion’s den,” Marcus said. “That’s clearly what he was doing here. And when you walk into the lion’s den, sometimes you gotta face the lion.” 

Acosta is CNN’s chief domestic correspondent and will start anchoring the network’s show “Newsroom” on weekends in April.