Jim Acosta responds to pro-Trump crowd chanting ‘CNN sucks’

CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta responded to a pro-Trump crowd chanting “CNN sucks” at a Monday rally for President Trump in Florida.

Acosta was delivering a live address Monday about the lack of social distancing at the event and attendees seen without masks while a crowd chanted behind him “CNN sucks.”

“As this crowd is chanting that there are members of the press here who suck, I should also point out … what also sucks: getting the coronavirus,” Acosta said Monday.

Members of the crowd at President Trump’s rally in Florida chant “CNN sucks” as @Acosta is live on air
pic.twitter.com/fdXTrt8MaG

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 12, 2020

Following Trump’s own battle with COVID-19, the president has been eager to return to the campaign trail, boasting that he is “immune” to the disease after doctors cleared him to end his quarantine.

“I am fighting to make sure we eradicate the virus, rebuild the economy and save our country from the radical left,” Trump told the crowd in at an airport in Sanford, Fla.

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., took to Twitter to echo the hecklers at the rally, replying, “Fact check: True.”

Fact check: True

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 13, 2020

Additionally, Acosta was attacked for hypocrisy following his live show at the rally, as some bystanders noticed he was without a mask after he went off the air, SV News reported.

.@CNN’s Jim Acosta facing backlash for hypocrisy, after criticizing Trump supporters for ‘not wearing masks’ & seen shortly after (off camera) not wearing one himself. pic.twitter.com/DQfYf6rDct

— SV News (@SVNewsAlerts) October 13, 2020

Acosta fired back at SV’s report in an Instagram comment, saying, “This is a lie. I was eating. And the mask is around my ear.”

Trump’s rallies have been highly criticized by public health experts as numerous attendees have been seen flouting COVID-19 safety measures.

The Trump campaign has said it requires all guests to receive temperature checks before entering rallies and hands out masks and sanitizers to patrons in attendance.