What happened: Jim Acosta, the obnoxious CNN reporter and author of Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America, celebrated the five-year anniversary of the time he saved democracy by manhandling a female staffer trying to take away his microphone at a White House press conference.
• "Five years ago..." the hero journalist wrote solemnly in an Instagram post accompanied by a photo of the infamous altercation, which resulting in the White House briefly suspending Acosta's press credentials.
• Acosta became a #Resistance celebrity for shouting questions at former president Donald Trump and generally behaving like a spoiled child while casting himself as a beleaguered third-world dissident waging a lonely battle against an authoritarian regime.
What they're saying: Acosta's behavior at the November 2018 press conference was "out of line," according to former CNN host Larry King. "You got a room full of people, all of whom have the right to ask questions. Jim might have gone a little far," the legendary journalist said. "To me, you know what this was? Eighth grade. It was the playground. 'That's my ball and I wanna play today on the team.' It was childish."
• ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl agreed. "Reporters make a mistake if they appear to be too much like an opposition to the president or the resistance," Karl told the Washington Free Beacon in 2020. He criticized Acosta in his own book—every reporter who covered Trump wrote a book about it—for acting like an "opinion journalist" and undermining "the credibility of the White House press corps."
Why it matters: Marking this special anniversary reminds us that when it comes to defending American democracy, journalists are just as courageous (if not more so) than the enlisted soldiers who risk their lives in battle. If you see a journalist today, please give them a hug and thank them for their service.
Go deeper: Trump-Era Journos: Will America Ever Be Worthy of Their Sacrifice?