CNN's Jim Acosta ran to the Obama administration's defense in a Monday post on Twitter. Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, replied to Acosta's previous Tweet reporting that Vice President Joe Biden "called Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi to congratulate him." Fleischer wondered, "Why is Biden making these calls? It's POTUS's [President of the United States] job..."
The journalist complimented the Bush administration alumnus for his "good question," and continued by emphasizing Biden's supposed expertise with the Middle Eastern country: [Twitter post below the jump]
— Jim Acosta (@JimAcostaCNN) August 11, 2014
Fleischer bluntly replied to Acosta's answer: "That's part of the problem. Pres O made it clear in '09 he wasn't interested in talking to Maliki. Not his job. Not smart..."
It should also be pointed out that Biden, who was in charge of negotiating an extension of a status of forces agreement (SOFA) with the Iraqi government so a small number of U.S. troops could stay in the country, boasted that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would do so: "I'll bet you my vice presidency Maliki will extend the SOFA." The Vice President was unable to do so, and all American military forces left Iraq in December 2011.
Acosta previously emulated a P.R. flack for the Obama administration during an April 1, 2014 report on CNN Newsroom. The CNN correspondent hyped that "if ObamaCare were a patient, this would be a pretty miraculous recovery, when you consider...that disastrous rollout in October and November."
