CNN correspondent Jim Acosta referred to the United States as a "vicious, nasty country."

Bemoaning Trump's description of the media as the "enemy of the people" — the title of his new book — Acosta jabbed at the president and said, "I throw my beer cans at the TV screen," when Trump appears.

"Do you remember, Bill, when we use to say 'I'd like to leave this country better off to our kids and our grandkids?'' Acosta said to veteran liberal journalist Bill Press. "Does anybody say that anymore?" He said the lives of Americans had degenerated into "viciousness," adding: "We've become a vicious, nasty country."

The CNN reporter has repeatedly clashed with Trump and the White House. His press pass was temporarily suspended last year after an altercation with a White House intern during a press conference.

Acosta speaks often about Trump's treatment of the press but in June, Acosta issued a warning: "To our friends in conservative media ... I say this: It is no guarantee that you get to stay in power forever. And so, another administration could come in and do the very same thing to them and say, 'Well, Donald Trump did it. Guess what, we’re going to do it to you, too."

He argued in his book: "Neutrality for the sake of neutrality doesn’t really serve us in the age of Trump."