Last Updated on February 17, 2022
Jim Acosta, the Trump-haranguing CNN personality who was inexplicably allowed to attend CPAC, was confronted by Liberty Hangout’s Kaitlin Bennett, famous for her advocacy of the Second Amendment. In the nearly 8 minute confrontation, Acosta refused to disavow Antifa, and generally ignored the pro-Trump media personality’s questions.
“Jim Acosta here in his natural habitat,” joked Bennett. “I’m surprised he doesn’t have two masks on, but he does have an N-95.”
After Acosta completed a friendly interview with Matt Schlapp, the establishment Republican who organizes CPAC, Bennett asked several pointed questions, and was mostly ignored.
“Do you feel responsible at all for the lies you told about the BLM riots,” asked Bennett. “Have a nice day,” replied Acosta.
“Do you feel responsible for the riots, the murders?” she continued. “Should your network be held responsible for lying and inciting these BLM riots?”
Finally, Acosta replied, saying that he does not agree with Bennett. When Bennett restated her question, Acosta replied, “Sure, yeah, sure,” as the crowd began chanting “CNN sucks!”
Bennett then repeatedly urged Acosta to explicitly disavow BLM and Antifa riots. Instead of answering, Acosta’s handler, a woman of about Bennett’s height, began insisting that they had somewhere else to be and tried to walk out of the growing crowd.
“One last question,” Bennett tried again. “Will you disavow or denounce Antifa?” Acosta again refused to answer, and his handler quickly ushered him away.
Eventually, Acosta demurred, claiming that he already spoke with Bennett and would not answer her questions as a result.
It is unclear why CPAC allowed the anti-Trump, sometimes anti-fact CNN host to attend the supposedly-conservative conference. While Acosta attended the conference and secured an interview with Schlapp, pro-Trump media personalities Austen “Fleccas” Fletcher and Rogan O’Handley were both unceremoniously kicked out of the Hyatt hotel in Orlando where CPAC is being held for the crime of taking their face masks off to take photos with fans.
CPAC and the Hyatt is also requiring all attendees to travel with their papers or hotel key card on them at all times, and confirmed that “hotel management” and “law enforcement” would remove anyone from the property who did not constantly wear a mask and readily present their papers when asked.
