Golden Shower Gate Update: Was CNN's Jim Acosta Rude To Donald Trump? Sean Spicer Calls For Apology

Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer called on CNN’s Jim Acosta to apologize to President-elect Donald Trump for being rude.

Spicer tweeted late Wednesday that Acosta’s behavior during Trump’s New York news conference earlier in the day was “rude, inappropriate and disrespectful.”

Acosta tried to get Trump to allow him to ask a question during the session with about 250 reporters at Trump Tower, but the president-elect refused, citing CNN’s decision to report on BuzzFeed’s release of a reputed Russian dossier containing political, financial and personal material on Trump that could compromise his presidency if true. None of the material has been verified.

U.S. intelligence agencies included a two-page summary of the material last week in its classified briefings to President Barack Obama and Trump on Russian hacking activities aimed at influencing the election.

At his news conference, Trump called BuzzFeed a “failing pile of garbage” and CNN a “fake news” outlet.

Acosta stood up and said since Trump was talking about CNN it was only fair that CNN be allowed to ask a question.

"I am not going to give you a question. You are fake news,” a clearly angry Trump said.

Spicer later threatened to bar CNN from future news conferences and late Wednesday tweeted his disgust with Acosta’s behavior.

Twitter users were amused by Spicer’s tweet.

CNN took great pains to differentiate its story from BuzzFeed’s approach, issuing a statement that said its report was carefully sourced and did not contain any unsubstantiated material.

“The Trump team knows this. They are using BuzzFeed’s decision to deflect from CNN’s reporting, which has been matched by the other major news organizations. We are fully confident in our reporting … We made it clear that we were not publishing any of the details of the 35-page document because we have not corroborated the report’s allegations,” CNN said in a statement.

The network challenged the Trump team to identify what it believed was inaccurate in the CNN report.

BuzzFeed, on the other hand, saw Trump’s tirade as a marketing opportunity, offering T-shirts sporting the legend: “Failing pile of garbage” on its website.

Trump’s wrath was not limited to news organizations. He also criticized U.S. intelligence agencies for compiling the two-page summary at all.