CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta panned President Trump’s speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, calling Trump’s delivery “particularly low-energy.”
Acosta also questioned whether the rising impeachment calls from Democrats over Trump’s communications with Ukraine might have played a role in his performance.
{mosads}”I thought the President seemed rather flat,” Acosta said in an appearance in his network following the president’s remarks. “Not to get too caught up in his performance, but you have to wonder whether or not this Ukraine issue is just hanging over everything like a wet blanket for this president.
“He is still trying to rally this base, to keep them at home as things are unravelling all around him with respect to this Ukraine investigation, which appears to be ramping up on Capitol Hill,” Acosta added.
Trump is under scrutiny for a call to Ukraine’s president in which he pressed for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who was on the board of a company in Ukraine. The communications reportedly alarmed someone within the administration enough to file a whistleblower complaint.
The administration has refused to provide that complaint to Congress amid reports that Trump had also withheld military aid to Ukraine. Trump on Tuesday morning confirmed that he had withheld aid to Ukraine, but said this was because he wanted to see other countries in Europe also offer support to Kiev.
During the 37-minute address at the UN, Trump urged those in attendance to put their countries first in equating freedom with pride in one’s country.
“The truth is plain to see — if you want freedom, take pride in your country. If you want democracy, hold onto your sovereignty, and if you want peace, love your nation,” Trump said at U.N. headquarters in New York City.
“Wise leaders always put the good of their own people and their own country first,” he continued. “The future does not belong to globalists, the future belongs to patriots. The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations who protect their citizens, respect their neighbors and honor the differences that make each country special and unique.”