White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders used a doctored video that was posted by an InfoWars editor to justify revoking CNN reporter Jim Acosta's White House press pass.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump lashed out at Acosta during a news conference, calling him a “rude, terrible person.”
Acosta tried to proceed with his questions but a White House intern attempted three times to take the microphone away.
“Pardon me, ma'am,” Acosta said as he continued trying to ask his question.
On Tuesday night, Acosta tweeted a video of him being denied entry to the White House and having his pass taken away by a security guard.
Sanders claimed on Twitter that Acosta was banned for “putting his hands” on the intern, although the video does not show that.
After Sanders was accused of misleading the public about the incident, she posted a video to Twitter purporting to prove that Acosta put his hands on the woman. It's unclear where the video came from but the same doctored video was posted by an editor at the conspiracy site InfoWars hours earlier.
Reporters condemn Sanders' fake news:
"Question for @PressSec: Where'd you obtain the distorted @Acosta video you posted?" asked CNN's Brian Stelter. "InfoWars personality @PrisonPlanet posted the same video two hours before you did. Surely you don't trust InfoWars...?"
"Critics said video — which sped up the movement of Acosta’s arms in a way that dramatically changed the journalist’s response — was deceptively edited," added journalist Nick Weig. "Video was first shared by Paul Joseph Watson, known for his conspiracy-theory videos on the far-right website Infowars."
InfoWars editor denies "doctored" claims: Paul Joseph Watson, who posted the video that was shared by Sanders, denied allegations that he altered the video.
"The claim being made my some media outlets that I 'sped up' the Acosta video is a brazen lie," he wrote. "Here's the original editing in Sony Vegas Pro. As you can see, no tracks are 'sped up' (sped up tracks would show wavy lines). I just zoomed in."
Jim Acosta hits back at WH "lies":
"Don’t believe the lies coming from the WH. Believe in our freedoms. Thank you all for your support. We won’t back down," he tweeted.
