Jim Acosta has labelled former President Donald Trump’s remarks that Haitian migrants “probably have Aids” as “twisted and evil”
“I’m sorry, you can’t listen to what he just said about Haitian migrants and say it’s not evil,” the CNN anchor said on his weekend show.
Speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News last week, Mr Trump made several unfounded claims about immigrants.
“So we have hundreds of thousands of people flowing in from haiti">Haiti. Haiti has a tremendous Aids problem. Aids is a step beyond. Aids is a real bad problem.”
Acosta pointed out the statement was incorrect, with Aids rates in Haiti having declined steeply in the last 15 years after a targeted United Nations programme in the country.
Mr Trump’s “bullying” and “lies” were having a broader impact on the national discourse, Acosta added, with many of his supporters feeling emboldened to threaten people they disagreed with.
“When we become a nation of bullies and the bullied, don’t be surprised if the Bully-in-Chief makes a comeback,” he said.
He asked whether Republican lawmakers such as Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa could “feel the darkness of his soul” when they stand beside the former president at his rallies.
“It feels cold doesn’t it.”
He also called out former Trump acolytes such as Steve Bannon for their support of the “Big Lie” that the election was stolen.
“If the bullies and their enablers can continue to gaslight us with their lies about horse paste and bamboo ballots, then no wonder the Bully-in-Chief is plotting his comeback.”
His comments caused a stir on social media, drawing some positive feedback.
“Give that man a Pulitzer,” one person wrote.
According to the UNAIDS, 150,000 Haitians are living with HIV out of a population of more than 10 million or around 2 per cent.
