Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he leaves the stage at a campaign rally at the Rocky Mount Event Center in Rocky Mount, N.C., U.S., October 30, 2024. REUTERS/Jay Paul
Former CNN reporter Jim Acosta has long been a thorn in the side of President Donald Trump. Now, the White House has renewed its attacks after the reporter dared to fact-check the claims about the Reflecting Pool.
Acosta appeared to trigger the White House on Wednesday with his live report from the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Like many journalists, researchers, Washington D.C. locals and tourists, Acosta went to the pool to see for himself if Trump's claim of vandalism was accurate.
There was no 250-350 foot gash sliced into the lining of the Reflecting Pool.
“Went looking for the 300-foot ‘slit’ or ‘slits’ in the reflecting pool Trump keeps lying about,” Acosta wrote on X. “Didn’t find any of that. But did find plenty of signs [that] the paint on the bottom of the pool has simply disintegrated.”
Trump has spent the week claiming that the pool had been vandalized, alleging that Democrats were to blame.
Speaking to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday, the president, embroiled in a war in Iran, wanted to focus instead on the "thugs," he said, who had hurt his pool.
“They just told me a little while ago,” Trump claimed. “Six have been arrested, and like six or seven are under investigation. They had pictures and everything else. They went to the bottom, and it’s not a paint job, it’s very expensive, it’s not rubber — but it’s like rubber — and they went down with probably a box cutter or a very sharp razor of some kind or knife, and they cut, and then they started ripping it up.”
“You know, one of the guys, he’s a member or a big player to ActBlue,” Trump added, referencing the Democratic Party fundraising platform. “He’s a big Hillary supporter, he’s a big supporter of Sleepy Joe Biden.”
Trump had previously said that the lining was Impenetrable.
It's not clear what Trump is talking about. The National Park Police have released a video of one woman sifting through the waters on the edge for a piece of the pool to take with her. Over the weekend, tourists were grabbing pieces as souvenirs, CNN reported.
Acosta, who had once been banned by the White House, walked over 4,000 steps around the perimeter of the pool searching for the massive gash and wasn't able to find it either.
“You can’t see a slit. There are no slits that he’s been talking about. It’s all a lie," he concludes.
That's when the White House snapped.
Using the official @RapidResponse47 account on X, the White House responded, “Jim, you are truly one of the dumbest individuals to have ever existed. Please seek professional help."
A White House spokesperson commented on the allegation: "It is shameful that elected Democrats would lie to the American public about the deranged vandalism that has taken place at the Reflecting Pool. President Trump generously spearheaded the restoration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and it is now reflecting beautifully despite the vandals’ attempt to destroy it."
Trump has long attacked Acosta, who frequently asked him questions that so angered the president that he reacted defensively.