Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta erupted in a profanity-laced tirade after CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil publicly affirmed We love America as one of its five simple principles."
According to Western Journal, the controversy erupted after the shows X account declared on Jan. 2, We make no apologies for saying so, in reference to its patriotic pledge. Acosta, appearing Thursday on the podcast Ive Had It, mocked the sentiment as unnecessary and promptly launched into a vulgar rant, using variations of the F-word five times in less than a minute.
Get the f*** out of here. We all love America. Thats why were doing this. The reason why I do my job, and I like doing my job, is I love this country. I f***ing love this country, Acosta said, insisting that his own biography proved his patriotism. He recounted his familys immigrant story, adding, My dad came from Cuba in 1962 three weeks before the Cuban missile crisis, fled communism. My mom, her folks were from the New York area. They came through Ellis Island. One of my great-grandparents was a maid at the Dakota Building here in Manhattan.
Acosta then pivoted from his family history to his years of grandstanding in the White House briefing room, boasting about his confrontations with President Donald Trump. And these two families came together, and there I popped out, and I went to the White House and gave Donald Trump a hell of a f***ing time. Thats America, he continued, framing his combative posture toward the administration as some kind of civic virtue.
He added, And Im not saying that Im exceptional or anything like that, but its exceptional that something like that can happen in this f***ing world. And when I saw CBS doing that, I said, What the f*** is going on with these people? Because we all love this country. That is beside the point.
The CBS programs X account had listed We love America as the fourth of its five guiding principles, alongside pledges such as We work for you and We respect you. In a Jan. 1 video message, anchor Tony Dokoupil also promised to center the average American rather than elites in his coverage, a notable shift for a legacy outlet long criticized for catering to coastal, progressive sensibilities.
Dokoupils revamped CBS Evening News debuted early on Jan. 3 with breaking coverage of the United States capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, before its first officially scheduled broadcast on Jan. 5. The new tone at the network follows the October appointment of Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief, a move that triggered staff turnover, layoffs, and a marked recalibration of its political reporting.
Against that backdrop, Acostas outburst underscores how deeply some in the old media guard resent even symbolic gestures toward patriotism and populist accountability. While CBS now publicly insists it works for and respects ordinary Americans, Acostas reaction to a simple declaration of love for the country reveals the cultural divide between media elites and the viewers they claim to serve.
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