Jim Acosta is quickly becoming “must watch” television. Sadly, his spot is in during the day on weekends, the time period which all too many of us will soon be filling with football and when done with football, highlights of football. Thankfully, major websites, ahem, like ours, do keep track of political highlights, too, because Jim Acosta is quickly setting a new standard in how to interview guests and when to literally call bullsh*t, on air, without apologizing.

California will soon hold an election on whether to recall Gavin Newsom. Larry Elder, a truly terrible human being at the Rush Limbaugh level, is one of the main rivals to replace Newsom. Elder has never held office, he’s a right-wing shock jock. Acosta interviewed Cong. Darrell Issa, the slimy car thief who seems to lose a lot of well-insured businesses to fires. Regardless, Acosta wanted to know what Issa believed regarding Elder’s qualifications.

Acosta noted: “He’s made a number of disparaging remarks about women,” then played one of Elder’s comments:

When you look at all these women that have marched, something like 2 million women, Donald Trump had probably gotten more obese women off the couch and in the streets, working out, than Michelle Obama did in eight years.

What? We had to read that three times to even understand it. Then nearly spit-up. Acosta put it right to Issa. Should Elder be the next governor of California?

Issa replied:

 “I think Larry Elder, with tens of thousands of hours on the air, entertaining and thought-provoking, if that’s the worst you can find –”

No. That may work with a lot of hosts these days, but it’s not going to work with Acosta who cut in:

“That’s not entertaining. That’s disgusting. What he said is disgusting. That’s –” Correct. Obviously.

But Issa wasn’t about to admit defeat, and Mediaite picks up the story:

“I appreciate, Jim, your saying it’s disgusting,” Issa broke back in, calling the clip similar to the “bombastic statements” made by other famous radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh “from time to time to make a point.”

“In tens of thousands of hours, if that’s the best you have, you don’t really have anything on Larry Elder,” Issa added.

“Oh, there’s lots of other material, as you know, Congressman,” said Acosta. “We don’t have time to go through all of it. But it sounds as though you’re saying Larry Elder would make a better governor of California than Gavin Newsom?”

At which point Issa gave up the game by noting that there were dozens of candidates, almost all of whom would be a better governor than Newsom has been. It is tough being governor during a once-in-a-century epidemic and a once-in-a-century drought. Newsom may not be “great,” but he’s been “good,” which is more than a lot of other governors can claim.

****
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak