CNN’s Jim Acosta Clashes with Trump Over “Happy Talk” Question at Coronavirus Briefing

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CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta clashed with President Donald Trump earlier today after asking the president whether briefings with the White House coronavirus task force amounted to “happy talk” to present a more favorable depiction of what’s happening as the coronavirus pandemic tears through the country.

“We hear from a lot of people who see these briefings as sort of ‘happy talk’ briefings,” Acosta said. “And you and some of the officials paint a rosy picture of what is happening around the country. If you look at some of these questions, do we have enough masks? ‘No.’ Do we have enough tests? ‘No.’ Do we have enough PPE? ‘No’.”

“These people have done an incredible job,” Trump replied, referring to the other people onstage with him. “This is not happy talk. Maybe it’s happy talk for you. It’s not happy talk for me. We are talking about death.”

“Thousands of people have died,” he added. “These are the saddest news conferences that I’ve ever had. I don’t like doing them. You know why? Because I’m talking about death.”

Trump said Acosta had not asked a “fair question.”

“When you ask a question like that it’s very insulting to a lot of great people.”

You can watch the exchange below:

The novel coronavirus has killed nearly 18,686 people in the United States alone. It will soon have more deaths from coronavirus than any other nation in the world.