Much has been said about Fox News' propensity for fallacies over the years, but nobody has nailed it quite so simply and perfectly as CNN's Jim Acosta.
During a broadcast on Saturday, Acosta dispensed with all niceties and just called Fox News "the bullsh*t factory."
You can see the moment here:
Saving this https://t.co/YHIVcvcUG0— Acyn (@Acyn) 1619901210.0
The internet is lauding him as a hero for finally saying what so many have been thinking.
A CNN reporter is now referring to Fox News as the ‘bulls**t factory’ https://t.co/p9k4AOmsTT— indy100 (@indy100) 1620033039.0
Acosta made the comments while reporting on Republicans' most recent obsession, a now retracted New York Post story which claimed, erroneously, migrant children detained at the southern border were all given copies of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris' children's book, Superheroes Are Everywhere.
In discussing the way the right has turned the story into its controversy du jour, Acosta pulled no punches.
"This [story] was USDA Grade A bullsh*t and the reporter who wrote the story resigned claiming she was forced to make it up. But the damage was done, pumped out over the airwaves at the bullsh*t factory also known as Fox News."
Acosta's blunt appraisal of the controversy is pretty hard to argue with.
The New York Post story claimed Harris' 2019 book was included in all migrant children's welcome packets upon arrival at the border—the truly damning implication being that taxpayer dollars were spent to purchase the copies of the Vice President's book.
The claim was false and easily disproven.
In reality, one single copy of the book, donated by a private individual, was distributed. After a furor erupted online about the fallacies in the piece, the journalist who wrote it, Laura Italiano, resigned in protest, calling the piece her "breaking point" and admitting she did not "push back hard enough against" it when she was "forced" to write it.
The Kamala Harris story -- an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough ag… https://t.co/FW4TMd9zpd— Laura Italiano (@Laura Italiano) 1619560909.0
But as with so many other fake controversies, conspiracy theories and false accusations against Democrats and those on the left, Fox News made little effort to set the record straight, leading to Acosta's rebuke.
On Twitter a new nickname for Fox News was born.
@Acyn Jim Acosta is all of us.— JJDiane ❤️🏳️🌈🗽 (@JJDiane ❤️🏳️🌈🗽) 1619902772.0
@Acyn I. Love. This. Man.— Jo (@Jo) 1619920029.0
@RexChapman @Acyn @Acosta We need more of this. The Murdochs should be completely ostracized for the damage they have done to the country!— Mr. K. Fish (@Mr. K. Fish) 1619903485.0
@Acyn Wait? Do I now have a crush on @Acosta 🧐💬?... https://t.co/aJWzqv4MIR— Miss Bossy Boots is wearing a mask 😷 (@Miss Bossy Boots is wearing a mask 😷) 1619902851.0
@Acyn Oh how I wish that "bullsh*t factory" wasn't legal...it shouldn't be--it fueled an insurrection where people… https://t.co/aMAuYXFu4V— Karen McCants (@Karen McCants) 1619903207.0
@Acyn @brianrayguitar When did brutal honesty become so rare that it makes me burst out laughing with glee... Brilliant... 👍👍— Eugene Czachor (@Eugene Czachor) 1619901816.0
@Acyn Give that man a raise. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻— Bathsheba Dreams in Blue (@Bathsheba Dreams in Blue) 1619903450.0
@Acyn Acosta woke up and chose violence and I’m here for it!! 🤓😂🤣 https://t.co/tfgodxwXAO— Mari LYN™️🇺🇸🇵🇷🇲🇽 (@Mari LYN™️🇺🇸🇵🇷🇲🇽) 1619902116.0
Eight seconds of pure, unadulterated truth. https://t.co/m14nTlqLms— Ed Bott (@Ed Bott) 1619902880.0
In a subsequent broadcast, Fox News did admit the story was "not accurate."
But they continued raising questions about the book itself and speculating private individuals were donating Harris' book instead of more worthy items or supplies.