White House counselor Kellyanne Conway referred to CNN's chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta as a "smartass" while speaking to a group of reporters on Tuesday.
Acosta asked Conway if President Donald Trump will tell the truth during his Tuesday night speech to the nation about securing the southern U.S. border.
"Kellyanne, can you promise the president will tell the truth tonight?" Acosta asked.
"Yes, Jim. Do you promise that you will? The whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God? Am I allowed to mention God to you?" Conway responded.
"I'm not the one who has the alternative-facts problem like you do," Acosta said.
"This is why I am one of the only people around here who even gives you the time of day," Conway responded. "And let me get back in your face because you’re such a smartass most of the time and I know you want this to go viral."
CNN’s Jim Acosta: 'Kellyanne, can you promise the president will tell the truth tonight?"
Conway: 'Yes, Jim. Do you promise that you will? ... this is why I am one of the only people around here who even gives you the time of day…because you’re such a smartass most of the time" pic.twitter.com/8fZ1iycl9R
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 8, 2019
Conway then pointed to the other reporters gathered around her, saying many don't like Acosta because of the way he's acted during the Trump administration.
"A lot of these people don't like you, but let me just be respectful to the media writ large as I always am. I explained that was alternative information and additional facts, and I explained it many times, and don't you put it back in my face for all the corrections your network needs to issue. I was on your network 25 or 26 times in 2018. I'm one of the last people here who even bothered to go on. And the disrespect that you show to me personally, I'll just look past," Conway continued.
Acosta has had a testy relationship with the Trump administration. The White House temporarily suspended his press pass after he was involved in a brief confrontation with a press aide during a press conference with Trump. The president referred to Acosta as a "rude, terrible person."