President Trump “goes back to being another crackpot on the internet” once his presumptive Democratic successor Joseph R. Biden takes over, CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta said Friday.
Mr. Acosta, a persistent critic of the president and frequent target of the president’s attacks on the press, was explaining how members of the media can ignore baseless claims and lies made by Mr. Trump once his time in office ends.
Preliminary elections results show Mr. Biden received the most votes in Georgia and Pennsylvania, among other states, although Mr. Trump claimed on Twitter earlier Friday to have bested him in both.
“He’s been tweeting this evening, talking about how he won this state and that state,” Mr. Acosta told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper during a live broadcast later that night.
“We have to pay attention to those tweets now, Anderson, because he’s the president,” Mr. Acosta added. “But after January 20th, he just goes back to being another crackpot on the internet.”
Indeed, Mr. Biden is set to be inaugurated president in roughly two months pending the final certification of the results of last week’s race between the Republican incumbent Mr. Trump and himself.
Mr. Trump has not conceded, however, more than a week since multiple news outlets started projecting he lost the presidential election and accordingly called the White House race for Mr. Biden.
Instead, Mr. Trump has promoted debunked claims and conspiracy theories on Twitter in recent days, resulting in several of his posts on the social media platform being labeled accordingly.
Twitter has let Mr. Trump’s bogus posts remain on its platform, where his account is followed by millions of other users, but recently indicated it may treat him differently once he leaves offices.
“Twitter’s approach to world leaders, candidates and public officials is based on the principle that people should be able to choose to see what their leaders are saying with clear context. This means that we may apply warnings and labels, and limit engagement to certain tweets,” a Twitter spokesperson told The Washington Times. “This policy framework applies to current world leaders and candidates for office, and not private citizens when they no longer hold these positions.”
Mr. Trump has sparred frequently with Mr. Acosta throughout his presidency and frequently branded him a “fake news” reporter. The White House also briefly suspended the reporter’s press pass in 2018.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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