CNN anchor Jim Acosta praised Donald Trump for his actions at a D-Day remembrance event, Mediate reports. It’s a rare bit of praise from one of the president’s harshest critics in the press.
Today, June 6, marks the 75th anniversary of the famed D-Day invasion of Normandy, which is widely considered a major turning point against the Axis powers in World War II, and in which untold numbers of servicemen on both sides lost their lives.
In France, Trump was joined by French President Emmanuel Macron, living veterans of the invasion, and various other dignitaries at an event to honor the day. Trump is certainly not the first American president to do this, and his actions and words Thursday were keeping in line with what other American presidents have said when commemorating the event, touching on ideals like courage and sacrifice, as ABC News reports. Specifically, he singled out some of the living veterans in attendance, telling some of their stories.
“You are among the very greatest Americans who will ever live. You are the pride of our nation. You are the glory of our republic,” he said.
To Acosta, Trump’s words and actions Thursday were emblematic of what all men or women who hold the office of President of the United States should aspire to.
“This is perhaps the most on-message moment of Donald Trump’s presidency today… [He] stayed on message and, I think, rose to the moment.”
Trump called Pelosi “nervous Nancy” during an interview with Fox that featured the American cemetery at Normandy behind him. Pelosi, chatting briefly with CNN, declined to criticize Trump with the cemetery behind her saying she’d rather not do that while she’s out of the country. pic.twitter.com/ZTLGK5hUyn
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 6, 2019
That’s high praise coming from Jim Acosta, who has been one of Trump’s fiercest critics in the news media and has even had his White House press credentials revoked by the Trump administration, as Columbia Journalism Review reports.
That Acosta would praise Trump has caught the news industry by surprise, to say the least. Fox News , for example, wrote about the event under the headline, “Hell freezes over as Jim Acosta [praises] Trump’s D-Day speech.”
Acosta’s remarks about the president’s D-Day speech weren’t limited to just effusive praise, however, and he did level a few concerns and criticism. Acosta mentioned, for example, that he was concerned that Trump might “veer off-script,” for example. He also mentioned that Trump was late to the event, having devoted some time to talk to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, or as Acosta called it, “dishing a lot of red meat.”
Jim Acosta wasn’t the only reporter who had kind words for Trump’s D-Day speech despite being critical of the president in other contexts. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough also praised Trump’s speech.