CNN’s Jim Acosta: ‘Biggest Meltdown I Have Ever Seen From A President’

President Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus briefing at the White House, CNN’s Jim Acosta told viewers Monday, produced “the biggest meltdown I have ever seen from a president of the United States.”

Acosta, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, said during a live report with CNN’s Erin Burnett, that “I don’t think a reasonable person could watch what we just saw over the last hour and conclude that the president is in control. It sounds like he is out of control.”

The briefing, in which Trump deflected criticisms of his administration’s response to the spread of Covid-19, included several heated exchanges, and plenty of real-time reaction on Twitter, where the hashtag #PressBriefing was the top political trending topic, followed by #TrumpMeltdown, and even #OMG Trump.

CNN broke away from the briefing to go directly to a correspondent who began fact-checking the president’s claims, in particular his claim that as president, he has “total” authority. The president has frequently deferred to governors, saying response to the spread of the coronavirus is a state matter.

Viewers took to social media to buzz about the briefing, and to call out the on-screen banner writers at CNN. So many people began their tweets with the words “the CNN” that those words also began trending early Monday evening.

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At one point during the briefing, Trump played a video many described as a campaign-style message praising the president for his handling of the crisis. CBS News correspondent Paula Reid questioned the president, saying “your video has a complete gap. What did your administration do in February with the time that your travel ban bought you?”

The president said “a lot” and then disparaged the highly regarded Reid, saying “you know you’re a fake.”