﻿

CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta completely diminished Kim Kardashian West and her recent visit to the White House to discuss prison reform on Wednesday.

Kardashian West met with President Trump as well as his top advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner with the mission to gain clemency for 63-year-old Alice Marie Johnson, who has already served over 20 years in prison of a life sentence for a first-time, non-violent drug offense.

Both the president and the reality star exchanged kind words on Twitter after their meeting.

Great meeting with @KimKardashian today, talked about prison reform and sentencing. pic.twitter.com/uOy4UJ41JF — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018

I would like to thank President Trump for his time this afternoon. It is our hope that the President will grant clemency to Ms. Alice Marie Johnson who is serving a life sentence for a first-time, non-violent drug offense. — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 31, 2018

Well, one particular CNN reporter didn’t take this prison reform summit seriously.

During a panel discussion on both Trump and the White House’s reaction to the Roseanne Barr controversy, Acosta slammed the “lack of seriousness” coming from the president.

“Forget about the fact that Kim Kardashian is here at the White House today and what planet that is anything resembling normal because it’s not. She shouldn’t be here talking about prison reform. It’s very nice that she is here but that’s not a serious thing to have happen here at the White House.”

Acosta went on to say that “pales in comparison” to the lack of seriousness behind Trump’s tweets blasting Disney CEO Bob Iger.

Besides the fact that Acosta never took issue with the countless celebrities that had visited the White House under President Obama including Beyoncé and Jay Z, George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bradley Cooper, Rihanna, and Zach Galifianakis, Acosta seems to have forgotten about his own 2015 interview with singer John Legend.

Acosta sat down with the Grammy-winning artist and discussed his music, Black Lives Matter, and yes, prison reform, something Legend at the time was planning on meeting with Obama about. And Acosta was genuinely engaged with Legend during the interview and took him seriously not only as an entertainer but as a political thinker.

The same can’t be said about his treatment of Kim Kardashian.

So why the drastic attitude change?

If your argument is that Legend is some intellect singer-songwriter and Kardashian is some air-headed reality star, that misses the point. Look at what they have in common; they’re A-list celebrities with huge followings who have sincere passions that involve politics and in this case, both are using their celebrity status on prison reform. And despite her husband’s recent outspoken support for Trump, Kardashian and Legend backed Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. Which begs the question why Acosta would take one seriously and not the other.

Acosta said Kim Kardashian “shouldn’t be here talking about prison reform,” something he never said about John Legend in 2015. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt that sexism isn’t a factor. So what is? Perhaps it’s his disdain for Donald Trump, a president who he essentially admitted doesn’t take seriously. If that’s his position, fine. But specifically on prison reform, the House just passed a bipartisan bill that Kushner personally had a major role in constructing. And Kardashian has put a spotlight on Alice Marie Johnson’s heartbreaking story since last year.

Between President Trump, Jared Kushner, Kim Kardashian, and even Congress, everyone seems to be taking prison reform seriously. Well, everyone except Jim Acosta.

[image via screengrab]

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.