Jimmy Kimmel called for Sarah Huckabee Sanders to be fired during his ABC show on Thursday night after she shared what appears to be a doctored video pushed by conspiracy theory website InfoWars "to discredit a reputable journalist."
The doctored footage is of an incident between CNN reporter Jim Acosta, President Donald Trump, and a White House intern during a heated press conference. Trump has often criticized CNN and accuses it of bias in its coverage of him.
Acosta clung on to the microphone to ask questions as the president insulted him, calling the reporter a "rude, terrible person." An as yet unnamed White House intern went to take the microphone but Acosta held on.
After the incident, the White House revoked Acosta's pass. And White House Press Secretary Sanders shared to her official Twitter account edited, grainy footage of the incident which zooms in on the moment the intern tried to grab the microphone.
The journalist's arm movement looks to have been speeded up to make it appear as if he forced her arm down instead of dropping naturally with hers as she went to pull the microphone and turn away. The audio of Acosta saying "pardon me ma'am," is also removed.
Sanders tweeted that "we will...never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern."
She then shared a video pushed by InfoWars on its website and by editor-at-large Paul Joseph Watson on his Twitter account.
"We stand by our decision to revoke this individual's hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video," Sanders said, sharing the edited footage.
Watson, who denies editing the footage, accused Acosta of using his arm "to overpower her" and "to physically resist/restrain the woman."
Read more: Sarah Huckabee Sanders used doctored InfoWars footage to justify Acosta ban
Kimmel called Sanders the "Hucka-B.S. machine" and InfoWars—which has claimed the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was "staged" and a "hoax"—a "website for the mentally unbalanced."
"Now, Jim Acosta clearly never touched that White House intern," Kimmel said. "That's just a lie. And I think this also might be the first time I've seen Sarah Sanders take the woman's side on any subject ever. So good for her. Baby steps.
"But she should be forced to resign for that. She intentionally disseminated doctored video footage to discredit a reputable journalist. She's the White House press secretary. She should be fired for that."
A statement from CNN after the incident read: "This president's ongoing attacks on the press have gone too far. They are not only dangerous, they are disturbingly un-American. While President Trump has made it clear he does not respect a free press, he has a sworn obligation to protect it. A free press is vital to democracy, and we stand behind Jim Acosta and his fellow journalists everywhere."
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Shane Croucher is a Senior Editor based in London, UK. He oversees the My Turn team. He has previously overseen ... Read more
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