White House Accused of Using Doctored Infowars Video to Justify Acosta Ban

The White House has been accused of using a doctored video made by far-right outlet Infowars to defend its decision Wednesday to revoke CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials. During a disagreement at a press conference, President Trump called Acosta a “rude, terrible person” and began to cut him off, but Acosta did not sit down or relinquish the microphone, even when an intern tried to pull it away. In the original footage, Acosta’s hand appeared to brush her arm and Acosta quickly said: “Pardon me, ma’am.” A 10:30 p.m. tweet by press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, however, shared footage that didn’t have the audio, zoomed in on Acosta’s arms, and had its speed altered—making the brush appear to be more aggressive. “We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass,” Sanders said in her tweet of the video. “We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video.”