CNN’s Acosta Baits Puerto Rico Gov. into Hitting Trump: ‘I’ll Punch the Bully in the Mouth’

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello says he’ll punch President Trump “in the mouth” if he tries bullying him.

The comments came as Gov. Rossello is in Washington, D.C., to support a House bill that would grant Puerto Rico statehood. 

He spoke to CNN’s Jim Acosta, who asked: “Does it feel that way sometimes? Are you dealing with a bully?”

“If — if the bully gets close, I’ll punch the bully in the mouth,” Rossello replied. 

Acosta, smirking, responded: “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Rossello said. “I — I — don’t — don’t — it would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with courage.”

After the interview aired, Acosta speculated that Trump would refuse to give Puerto Rico statehood because it would hurt him politically. 

“Of course, President Trump is not going to be in the mood to give Puerto Rico statehood,” Acosta said. “That would put more Democratic electoral votes in the column of the Democratic Party come election time in 2020 is fast approaching. This is something very interesting to watch.”

Acosta said Puerto Ricans are already affecting the vote in Florida: “Thousands of Puerto Ricans have moved to the state of Florida. One thing that governor says is watch what happens with those transplants as people move to Florida, those are folks who are not going to be very happy with the way President Trump handled the crisis in Puerto Rico. They have fresh memories of throwing paper towels at storm victims and says the president needs to get serious about the issue and start delivering results to his island which is still just battered and beat up after what happened in the aftermath of hurricane Maria.”