"Being persistent and asking tough questions is his job, and he has our complete support," CNN said of Jim Acosta Monday. | Getty CNN offers vote of confidence for Acosta

Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer has said repeatedly in the days since Donald Trump’s press conference last week that CNN reporter Jim Acosta should apologize for loudly demanding a question even after the president-elect pointedly refused to call on him.

Acosta’s network responded Monday, telling Spicer in a statement that he should not expect a sorry any time soon.


"Being persistent and asking tough questions is his job, and he has our complete support," CNN said in a statement Monday.

Wednesday's brief press conference exchange came as Trump attacked CNN for reporting a day earlier that a summary of an unverified intelligence report suggesting that the Russian government possessed compromising and salacious information about the president-elect had been included in a briefing delivered to both President Barack Obama and Trump. Hours later, BuzzFeed published the full report, cautioning that it was unverified and contained errors.

At his press conference, Trump called BuzzFeed a “failing pile of garbage” and compared the intelligence community, which he blamed for leaking the full dossier, to Nazi Germany. The president-elect was seemingly ready to launch into an attack on CNN as well, mentioning the network before veering off in a different direction.

Acosta nterjected though, standing up and asking: “Since you’re attacking us, can you give us a question?” Trump admonished the CNN reporter, telling him “don’t be rude” and “you are fake news.”

The president-elect declined to answer Acosta's question and others piled on the reporter for trying to ask his question. Texas Rep. Randy Weber later called for Acosta to be fired for being "disruptive" and "disrespectful."

In the days since news of the intelligence dossier broke, Spicer and other transition team members have been harshly critical of CNN and BuzzFeed for their reporting on it. CNN’s story, that both Trump and Obama were briefed on a synopsis of the intelligence dossier, has since been confirmed by government officials.

"As we have learned many times, just because Sean Spicer says something doesn't make it true,” CNN’s statement said. “Jim Acosta is a veteran reporter with the utmost integrity and extensive experience in covering both the White House and the President-elect."