CNN presenter Jim Acosta has been applauded online for his “sincere” response to Trump supporter and Newsmax host Steve Cortes, who criticised the United States’ decision to fly hundreds of Afghan refugees out of a country now under the control of the Taliban.
Sharing a viral photograph to Twitter of Afghan citizens crammed into the back of a US plane, Cortes wrote on Wednesday: “Raise your hand if you want this plane landing in your town?”
“I can think of somebody raising their hand,” replied Acosta on his CNN programme. “Anybody ever heard the line: ‘give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free’?”
The line is taken from the poem The New Colossus from Emma Lazarus, found in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York City.
Acosta went on to add that America has “a long history” of welcoming refugees, and that the famous monument has “always symbolised that beacon of hope” to the world.
“If we wanted to end that ‘forever war’, if we really want to get home from Afghanistan, I know one light showing us the way,” he concluded.
Twitter has since commended the broadcaster for his comments, with Acosta described as a “poet” and a “treasure”:
Yup pic.twitter.com/azuWxKRJmZ
— 🌸💙NaN💙🌸 (@BeTrueVoteBlue1) August 21, 2021
Mr. Acosta, in your delivery of this statement, You bring tears to my eyes. Thank You for being Human …
— A.E. Bojorquez (@travi44) August 21, 2021
Wow. You can’t get much more true and sincere about this country than that. Bravo Acosta 👏🏻👏🏻
— Roberta 🌴🏄🏽♀️ (@RobertaByTheSea) August 21, 2021
She Raised her hand and yes I would have a plane land in my state. I raise my hand 🤚. We are Americans and most of our families were Immigrants. pic.twitter.com/d4grBSFAhd
— Denise Lewis (@DeniseLMarineVa) August 21, 2021
Classy Acosta👏👏
— jon (@fraser235) August 21, 2021
I love this part. I was like YES! That's America. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
— Brenda Johnson (@TucsonVoice28) August 21, 2021
Jim Acosta on Afghanistan refugees who helped us in Afghanistan.❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/8wR9go8Mmw
— Lisa Seaman (@LisaSeaman8) August 21, 2021
Excellent clarity & sanity on the Afghanistan situation.
— Sideline Observer (@SidelineObserv1) August 21, 2021
Jim @Acosta is always worth a serious listen.
Thank you, Jim!https://t.co/MMbVl7Hznj
Jim Acosta. That’s it. That’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/9PG5TIXK3E
— Avenger Resister (@AvengerResister) August 22, 2021
Thank you Jim Acosta. https://t.co/Pvjvtj2RW1
— 💦LadyUnsung🎵 🌊 (@Lady3keys) August 21, 2021
Jim Acosta is a treasure.pic.twitter.com/jV7qvC5J0k
— Minh Ngo (@minhtngo) August 22, 2021
It looks like Acosta borrowed Lady Liberty’s flame too, as Cortes has quite clearly got burned.
