(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., went for the jugular Wednesday when he told CNN anchor Jim Acosta that reruns of children’s cartoons get higher ratings than CNN.
As Acosta bickered with the GOP congressman about President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon 1,500 Jan. 6 prisoners on the first day of his second presidency, he took aim at Fox News.
However, Burchett was quick to point out that the CNN host was throwing stones from a glass house.
OUCH. @TimBurchett absolutely bodies CNN's Jim Acosta as the network losing to Spongebob reruns….
Acosta: "This is this is not Fox, congressman. You can't just spin a tale and pull the wool over people's eyes. This is CNN. This is the news. We are asking you to come on and… pic.twitter.com/AUfWPwPH49
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 22, 2025
Acosta, whose 10 a.m. show will soon be moved to ratings-dry midnight, attempted to take a swipe at Burchett.
“This is this is not Fox, congressman. You can’t just spin a tale and pull the wool over people’s eyes. This is CNN,” Acosta said. “This is the news. We are asking you to come on and tell the truth.”
Burchett shot back, “And that’s why more people are watching the Cartoon Network and SpongeBob reruns right now.”
The Republican lawmaker revealed that he received threats to his life within the past few weeks, which he said went widely unreported.
He slammed CNN for prioritizing attacks on Trump over reporting the news.
CNN Banishes TDS-Afflicted Jim Acosta to Time-Slot ‘Siberia’ https://t.co/Q2xLFw04kg
— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) January 18, 2025
“Jim, look, I left the White House during a riot. My life was threatened. My life has been threatened within the last few weeks, yet there’s no coverage of that,” Burchett said. “And you all continue this, this narrative of attacking Trump. You just can’t stand the fact that he won and that America spoke and that your view is very diminished.”
Acosta blurted out, “That’s not the case at all!” — but CNN’s post-election coverage got crushed by networks including Food Network and the Hallmark Channel, Fox News reported in December 2024.
NEW @PuckNews: In November, I reported that CNN was preparing to implement layoffs targeting *hundreds* of employees. CNN C.E.O. Mark Thompson will formally announce those tomorrow morning. Full details on what's coming in tonight's IN THE ROOM: https://t.co/aUkyssMv7F
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) January 22, 2025
CNN is slated to fire hundreds of employees Thursday in an attempt to lower costs, CNBC reported Wednesday. This comes less than a week after CNN settled a multi-million-dollar defamation lawsuit filed by U.S. veteran Zachary Young.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
